http://tinyurl.com/4mjjd9m
City officials are still working out details on the construction timetable for a new soccer stadium, but that hasn't deterred them in their quest of seeking regional and national tournaments to fill the facility.
The $2 million soccer complex will feature two soccer stadium fields built over what is currently three fields at the complex, placing permanent grandstands, a press box and concession stands in between two lighted fields.
Is there REALLY such a demand for soccer stadiums, here? This is one of my problems with our city "leaders." I'd object if they had to cut services to spend money from the budget to build something like this, but they didn't even do that. They used a bond issue (read: more debt) to get the money they need to build this stadium.
How fiscally irresponsible can you get?
So, now we'll have more money taken out of our economy to build something that, as far as I can see, Montgomerians just weren't demanding.
Do you SEE why I dislike the way our government works?
You're aware of the concept of a long-term investment, right? $2 million is nothing compared to what those fields can bring into Montgomery in terms of "heads in the beds" and "dudes eating food."
ReplyDeleteSeriously, regional-level 3 day soccer tournament will mean at least 2 hotel nights per family, with somewhere in the neighborhood of 15 families per team and 32 teams. That's 960 hotel nights in one weekend. Not to mention the other money those tourists will pay in Montgomery. Think of the tax revenue this will create.
This is a fairly short-sighted view, in my opinion.
You're aware of the concept of being broke, right? When you have more expenses than income, when you have to remove items from your budget and reduce city services to make ends meet, that is NOT the time to go pick up a rental property as an investment... nor is it time to build a new house.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, the City has NO firm commitments, and all of the "we'll have soccer tournaments" hype is just that... hype. They HOPE they do, and they're willing to spend our money on that chance.
As to the "creates jobs" stuff, that's nonsense. Numerous analysis of publicly-funded sports stadiums show that they seldom create more economic activity than they displace by removing the tax money from the economy in the first place.
I can produce some of these studies, if you wish. Or you could do a Google search and see what you come up with.
If the stadium is a such a good idea, economically speaking, then the private sector should jump at the opportunity to put one up and run it. If the private sector isn't interested, there's probably a reason for that.