Yep, and it'll only cost $200,000 more than EMU paid for the Clery Act violations. We love art, we love artists, but $549,000 right now for an ELEVATOR to use an Art Center in THESE times? Sorry, we're not jumping up and down. Of all the things this grant money COULD have been spent on to improve the community right now, this was way down the list. We understand the hard work and sweat that went into getting it, still, enjoy it, but it serves nothing more that a niche market right now and Ypsi should be thinking BIG picture. Bringing a handful of EMU art students downtown isn't really it.
So now we'll se if this 500K elevator will, in the words of Bill Kinley, president of the Riverside Art Center Foundation Board, help revitalize downtown Ypsilanti
"The art center is an important piece of the puzzle to revitalize downtown"
Uh, no it's not. It's for a niche market. Arts are nice, in financial times like these, this city has more pressing needs.
And when does the state have 500 large to spend on art center elevators?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
The U.S. Conference of Mayors 2008 Report states:
"The arts, humanities, and museums are critical to the quality of life and livability of America's cities. It has been shown that the nonprofit arts and culture industry generates over $166 billion in economic activity annually, supports over 5.7 million full time jobs, and returns over $12 billion in federal income taxes annually. Governments which support the arts on average see a return on investment of over $7 in taxes for every $1 that the government appropriates."
Since portions of the RAC are inaccessible and therefore non-compliant with the Americans With Disabilities Act, we could simply turn down the money and forego this type of economic activity.
Or, we can accept the money, invest in the RAC, bring it fully up to code, and work on reaping the proven benefits.
It's a no-brainer to me.
Cities of what size?
OK, we'll be checking now each year for our 7-1 payback rate on this
Post a Comment