To: whiged@thewhig.com
Sent: Friday, December 03, 2004 3:00 PM
Subject: Mr. Gedge's "Leap of faith"
, The Whig, November 18, 2004At the November 17 annual meeting of the Downtown Kingston Business Improvement Area, Don Gedge, the project manager of the Large Venue Entertainment Centre, urged Kingstonians to emulate the "leap of faith" which led to the 1843 construction of Kingston City Hall, and commit to a comparable leap by constructing a new arena on Anglin Bay.
Mr. Gedge, and your readers, may be interested in chapter six of Osborne and Swainson's Kingston: Building on the Past
, wherein the authors comment that "the construction of city hall was civic madness, a madcap financial adventure that had devastating and long-term results." They go on to say that the motivation underlying the construction of city hall was "either irresponsible and dishonest, or...stupid."
Their words have particular resonance for contemporary Kingstonians, given the recent revelation that the Ontario tax-payer-financed $600-million Toronto SkyDome
is about to be snapped up by the Blue Jay's owners for a mere $25 million, while the rest of us will continue servicing the half-billion dollar debt. [Globe and Mail, December 1, 2004] Or the revelation that "(The City of
London) has a budget of $700-million and a debt load of more than $300-million. Servicing the debt on the John Labatt Centre alone [which the Mayor's Task Force on an LVEC held out as a shining example of what they had in mind] will cost $4.5 million next year." That city is contemplating a tax increase of 8%. [London Free Press, September 27,
2004]Yes, despite the failure of its purpose as a bribe to keep Kingston the capital of the united province of Canada, City Hall eventually became a defining symbol of Kingston, and a tourist attraction, but does anyone seriously imagine that the proposed Xanadu on the Cataraqui will be around in 161 years to perform a similar function?
Madcap and stupid indeed, but unfortunately historically typical. I suggest that those who wish to resist being condemned to repeating our past would find that a good place to start would be the website of an organization called "Kingstonians Concerned about the LVEC", www.kcal.ca (or call 547-4885).
Robert Harlow
Kingston, Ontario
e-mail: rharlow42@sympatico.ca
NOTE for editorial staff: the source of the above quotes is: Osborne, Brian S. and Swainson, Donald. Kingston: Building on the Past, Westport, Ontario: Butternut Press, 1988, p. 102.