Am I the only one who sees the insanity of using public dollars to build “an outdoor stage, with a video screen and all the bells and whistles” at Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville Beach Hotel?
A concert series on Pensacola Beach would be nice, but spending half a million dollars to enhance the newest hotel on the island isn’t the proper use of island beautification funds. In fact. concerts aren’t island beautification either.
These beautification funds (which are generated by lease fees from Portofino) are the public’s dollars, not Portofino’s – and can’t be spent on the whims of the SRIA board or Robert Rinke.
If Jimmy Buffet and Margaritaville Beach Hotel want a stage, let them build it. The Gulf Shores Hangout stage, where Buffet played Sunday, wasn’t built by the City of Gulf Shores or Baldwin County.
Has the County Attorney looked at this?
Popularity: 5% [?]
The Towers
No argument either way. But are the Portofino generated beautification funds from Portofino Towers or the Portofino Boardwalk (formerly Quietwater Boardwalk) ?
City resident:
Look at the renderings of 2005, 2006 and 2010, they are amazing similar for a project that has been discussed for five years. As far as hurricanes, people argued in the 2000s that the Portofino project would be destroyed by hurricanes, too….and look how well they survived.
You want to compare Buffett’s Gulf Shores concert and the stage……. it’s my understanding that CVB in Gulf Shores paid $3.5 million for the “infrastructure” of the free Jimmy Buffett show. Our permanent stage at $500K is a paltry sum and with multiple shows the ROI would be much greater than anyone is willing to look at and admit.
Pensacola – where the “NO” Birds roost.
The fact that they are a waste of taxpayer money can be debated, the fact that they will be destroyed by hurricanes cant…it is a certainty rick and you know it. My recollection of the artists rendering of the park as was voted on by us taxpayers is nothing like what is being built. Now how are my “facts” wrong?
City Resident:
Actually you are wrong on all three of your “facts” about the maritime park. And the stage was never sold to or voted on by the taxpayers. Technically neither are paid with taxpayer money – Maritime Park is CRA funds, NMTCs and private investment; Stage is a beautification fund on the SRIA funded by Portofino lease fees. We don’t know the design of the stage, but we do know that park is built at new code standards and at heights that will withstand flooding.
You like the stage, don’t like the maritime park. We get it. The park will be built. The stage maybe not…we’ll see.
They both are a waste of taxpayer money, they both will be destroyed by hurricanes because of poor location, neither will be a representation of what the taxpayers were sold on….is that enough stuff in common?
Evan:
Okay, tell us what these two projects have in common. Just a simple list will do.
Evan:
The differences are profound. And any attempt to link these two dissimilar issues is laughable. For five years, those who hate the park, Studer or just the stadium have used any excuse to link any controversial article in the PNJ, Progressive Pensacola or this blog back to those three topics. It gets old and really has become ridiculous.
Trey:
How many years does Pensacola have to go over the same old tired arguments against the park?
The citizens have approved the maritime park by referendum. The bonds were sold within eight hours of availability on the market last year. The City has in the bank an additional $12M of free money in New Market Tax Credits because of the multi-use stadium. All the contracts have been signed. Yet you want to continue rehashing the same arguments that have failed to win support.
This is a true public-private project that injects $52M into this community right now…once the infrastructure is in place (2011), Studer will begin his $12M office building….Tell what other $64M project that Pensacola, Escambia and Santa Rosa counties have right now. If you read the master development contract, you will see that the MPDP is required to continue building the private portion of the park for the next 10 years—the entire development will be $300M—not a bad return for the CRA’s $40M net proceeds. Most of it will be on the city’s tax rolls and be paying lease fees for the land.
A referendum and literally hundreds of public meetings over five years prove the maritime park isn’t a whim.
The multi-use stadium has worked all over the country as a catalyst. It will work here, too.
If you believe the State Attorney should look into this, file a complaint. Donovan’s crew tried that in 2006 and the SAO found no basis. In fact, Jack Nobles was one of the ones investigated.
Another weak analogy trying to shoot down the maritime park that has nothing to with the stage on the beach.
Am I the only one who sees the insanity of using public dollars to build “baseball stadium and all the bells and whistles” downtown on public property for a private businessman?
Baseball games in downtown would be nice, but spending nearly 100,000,000 dollars in principle, interest and costs as well as bankrupting the CRA who’s real job is to to reduce urban blight isn’t the proper use of Pensacola’s beautification funds. In fact. baseball games aren’t Pensacola beautification either.
These beautification funds which are generated by a portion of the property taxes in the CRA district are the public’s dollars, not the Pelicans – and can’t be spent on the whims of the city council or Quint Studer.
If the Pelican organization wants a baseball stadium, let them build it.
Has the State Attorney looked at this?
It’s far from apples and oranges Rick. There is more in common between this and the Pelicans stadium than you want to admit.
It is amazing that it has taken us this long to realize that music brings dollars..Just to the west of us they figured it out years ago. Maybe we are the rednecks.
Why not rent the same stage that Gulf Shores used for JB?
You do not want to schedule conerts on the same days anyways so the same stage could be used on alternate weekends by GS and PB.
Besides, you would keep a dozen or so stage setup workers employed all season.
I figured some of you would try to somehow make a fallacious analogy with the community maritime park.
Park is built on public land; approved by referendum by the voters; Pelicans lease stadium for its games, 10 years.
Margarita concert stage – private land, no referendum, no lease agreement for the concerts.
There is no comparison. Weak analogy.
Wow, is that kettle black?
[...] Public dollars to build a stage? Rick Outzen takes issue with the Santa Rosa Island Authority’s recent preliminary approval of spending around $500,000 on an outdoor performance stage adjacent to the Margaritaville hotel. The SRIA Board met yesterday, and the PNJ reports they delayed a final decision until they can review more information. [...]
Well, technically, having city taxpayers build a new Multi-Use Stadium “mostly” for the Pelicans who already play in a recently renovated stadium on UWF isn’t “economic development” either. It’s “economic displacement.” UWF’s Dr. Harper can provide the details about the academic disclaimers in his 2005 Haas Center report. The county subsidizes the money-losing Civic Center. The city subsidizes the money-losing Saenger Theatre whose manager is paid more than our future mayor. It seems likely city taxpayers will also end up providing annual subsidies to the CMPA. The council didn’t do the project’s economic viability study for a reason. Probably best to buck the trend and let the private sector take the lead on the beach concert venue.
However, that’s not how we do things around here. Collier Merrill once told us that city taxpayers had to risk their money up front on the park because local businessmen didn’t want to risk their own. He said it with the CRA Director at his side. He’s right. In truth, the Studer Group MOU with the CMPA only obligates Studer to lease “not less than 20,000 useable square feet of space in the Office Building,” aka the “Studer Space.” Studer does have the “first right and option” to build the office building if he wants to take the risk but he has not contractually bound himself to do so. Councilwoman Maren DeWeese once incorrectly told me “we had” to build the Pelicans the stadium because Studer “was going” to build the office building. I politely encouraged her to read the actual contract between Studer and the CMPA.
Quint Studer says the most overrated virtue is “Intelligence.” As a retired Marine Corps Intelligence Officer I have a different view. I think it would have been smarter for Pensacola to do like Orange Beach where they let a private developer build The Wharf. I also think it would have been smarter for the Studers to spend the $12 million they have in the bank to build a Multi-Use Stadium at the beach where they live. I bet most home games would be sold out. It would do double-duty as a concert venue. Families might chose Pensacola Beach over Gulf Shores or Destin because it would be fun to go to ball games while on vacation.