Brian McNeill follows up his earlier article about the Landmark lawsuit (see here) with a piece today that includes the first official response (so far as I know) from the City to the question of whether the City would consider a Radisson-type bailout of the project.Both Dave Norris and Aubrey Watts (the City's Economic Development Director) categorically reject the possibility of a City bailout, with Norris citing to the cutbacks in other capital expenditures including schools, infrastructure, and the City's fire station. According to the article, Downtown Mall businesses are beginning to grumble, "publicly and privately," about the negative ramifications of the project sitting unfinished for months/years on end.
120. Where is the "City's fire station?" Is that the one on 5th Street?
121. When will the City re-open 1st Street to pedestrians (where it's been blocked off for construction of the Landmark)? I assume that taking this step will be seen as a capitulation to the reality that the half-finished project is going to sit there for a while, so I imagine that there will be hesitation to take that step.
122. Julian Taliaferro sent out a mailing (which I received yesterday) announcing that he's running for re-election to Council. How will each of he, Norris, and Kristin (sp?) Szakos distinguish themselves from the other two? I think Norris voted against the Meadowcreek Parkway and Taliaferro voted for it -- will this become a major point of contention in the campaign?
