The Free Press is reporting that a deal is nearly done on a new Cobo authority. Detroiters are well aware that Cobo, home to the North American International Auto Show, has been mired in conflict as the City is incapable of running and financing it, but is unwilling to cede control to a regional authority. Suburban leaders want a say in the matter as the Auto Show brings millions of dollars to the region that would be lost should the Auto Show chose another venue, likely in Chicago.
While this is good news, it does not address the concerns that the Auto Show organizers have informed Detroit that they would seek another site for the 2011 show if Cobo is not expanded and upgraded. This is a no-brainer, but finding consensus on how to pay for the deal is like finding the goose that lays a golden egg.
I have to say, I beleivce that Dave Bing, the new mayor of Detroit, probably has a lot to do with this. He is the only player that has changed recently, and now a deal seems imminent. Just goes to show what a successful businessman can do. Plus, the picture in the Free Press is great. Understated power and confidence. Sure beats the bluff and bluster of many Detroit politicians(Kilpatrick, Conyers...).
One thing that I hope Detroit and the new Cobo Authority will look at is the use of the Joe Louis Arena site. Its outdated, and Mike Illitch, owner of the Red Wings, and lease holder of the Joe, has been shopping other options. The city could end the lease, raze the site and use it for expansion of Cobo. With a phased construction schedule, Cobo could remain open the entire time, though at diminished capacity, and could have a grand re-opening for the whole facility with the 2011 NAIAS. Of course, to achieve that, the project has to move now and move quickly. If the will is there, it can be done.
Additionally, the city could trade Illitch the Joe site for the Tiger stadium site. There Illitch could build a new arena complex with a new home for the Wings, and perhaps a theatre, restaurants, and hopefully for Detroiters, a proper grocery store. I'm looking at a Verizon Center/Gallery Place in DC sort of set up.
All this means a bigger better Cobo, the Auto Show stays, the Red Wings get a new facility that is on par with the rest of the organization, and the city gets a big boost from the 100s of millions of dollars that all this would cost. And I bet, if they act quickly, they might be able to get some stimulus cash too. Especially if they also built a rail link between downtown and Corktown along Michigan Ave with expandability to the west for the future.
Some aerial views to help you non-Detroiters:
Cobo and the Joe: what looks like a giant parking lot between the Joe and Cobo Arena from the air is roof parking above the existing Cobo...
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Tiger Stadium out on Michigan Ave has been torn down. This represents a great opportunity for the city.
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And a zoom out of the downtown area to give some context. Below the D in Detroit is Cobo and above the Corktown label is where Tiger Stadium recently stood.
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Thursday, June 25, 2009
On Iran
I have been resisting the urge to tell world leaders how to act, as they are the leaders, not me. I have also been resisting the urge to talk about Iran's actions as I may be fueling the fire. That, of course, assumes that anyone will read this. But this morning's article in the Post has pushed me past the point where I can keep it in. Even if I am am the only one ever to read these words, by putting them out there I feel a little better. There is nothing else I can do.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been jabbing at Obama and the west about our 'interference' in their affairs. The thing is that we haven't been interfering. We've been commenting and denouncing violence. Ahmadinejad has engaged in far more critical verbage than that which Obama used. Not only is Ahmadinejad a hypocrite, but he appears to be directly engaged in a diversion. He is pointing his finger at the west when the problem is internal.
He and the Ayatolah have been accusing the west of spreading lies and inciting the protests in Iran. This sort of conspiracy theory is the sort of stuff that makes us throw labels like crackpot at bloggers. All this while they are actively locking up and pushing out foreign press and releasing their own views through state media. If everything they are doing is truely legitimate and follows the law, they what do they have to fear? If everything is above the board, open the records to the public and the international media alike. Show the world definitively that President Ahmedinejad really won the election, and the world, and likely Iranian citizens, will respect the outcome.
By hiding the evidence the regime is discrediting themselves. Iranians and the world at large is suspicious of what occured. The Iranian people have notified the world through their protests and free nations everywhere want transparency for the people of Iran.
While Obama is not a hard line 'decider' like Bush was, he is still the Commander in Cheif of the US Military, and agression toward the US is likely to be dealt with harshly. Obama, thankfully, is much more diplomatic, and I am sure that he, like myself and many others, see through Ahmedinejad's empty rhetoric that just seeeks to veil internal woe and keep his own people in the dark. The people voted and they deserve to know the outcome and feel assured that it is accurate. That is all the US and the west want. That is what the citizens of Iran want. Ahmedinejad needs to grow up and look back at himself and his government and his people and do the right thing. It is Iran that is under the microscope, not the US or Obama.
I urge you to read the article that I linked to above, and any others you may find. Make your own decisions. Let the Iranian people do the same.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been jabbing at Obama and the west about our 'interference' in their affairs. The thing is that we haven't been interfering. We've been commenting and denouncing violence. Ahmadinejad has engaged in far more critical verbage than that which Obama used. Not only is Ahmadinejad a hypocrite, but he appears to be directly engaged in a diversion. He is pointing his finger at the west when the problem is internal.
He and the Ayatolah have been accusing the west of spreading lies and inciting the protests in Iran. This sort of conspiracy theory is the sort of stuff that makes us throw labels like crackpot at bloggers. All this while they are actively locking up and pushing out foreign press and releasing their own views through state media. If everything they are doing is truely legitimate and follows the law, they what do they have to fear? If everything is above the board, open the records to the public and the international media alike. Show the world definitively that President Ahmedinejad really won the election, and the world, and likely Iranian citizens, will respect the outcome.
By hiding the evidence the regime is discrediting themselves. Iranians and the world at large is suspicious of what occured. The Iranian people have notified the world through their protests and free nations everywhere want transparency for the people of Iran.
While Obama is not a hard line 'decider' like Bush was, he is still the Commander in Cheif of the US Military, and agression toward the US is likely to be dealt with harshly. Obama, thankfully, is much more diplomatic, and I am sure that he, like myself and many others, see through Ahmedinejad's empty rhetoric that just seeeks to veil internal woe and keep his own people in the dark. The people voted and they deserve to know the outcome and feel assured that it is accurate. That is all the US and the west want. That is what the citizens of Iran want. Ahmedinejad needs to grow up and look back at himself and his government and his people and do the right thing. It is Iran that is under the microscope, not the US or Obama.
I urge you to read the article that I linked to above, and any others you may find. Make your own decisions. Let the Iranian people do the same.
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