Re: No such promise

["Priscilla Salant" <psalant@moscow.com>]

Visionaries:

> . . . . My problem with the 1912 Building
> was and is the outrageous cost to renovate that particular building . . .
>
> Walter Steed

I agree.  The cost of the 1912 Center is too high.  Here is what I said in a
DN letter to the editor in July,2000:

"I believe the current price tag of $5.5 million is too high and I question
the assumptions on which it is based. I challenge the project's critics to
work with me and other members of the Mayor's Task Force to find ways to
bring the cost down."

Now the rubber is hitting the tarmac.  The Palouse Discovery Science Center
is working with the City on a potential lease agreement and guess what ...
the cost may well be too high for PDSC to afford.  Soon, others among the
expected tenants will get their own case of sticker shock.

How did this happen?  Here's a possible explanation:  Several years ago, the
Use Committee, after an extensive public input process, proposed a plan for
how different parts of the building could be used.  The City took the
proposal to an architect.  The architect met with tenant groups about what
they wanted in the space.  The architect came up with a price, and we've
been running (scared) ever since.  We've made timid efforts to get donated
labor but have always run into liability issues.

Essentially, no one has a budget to work with so there is no incentive to be
frugal.  The City had no incentive because the Council promised not to fund
the renovation.  The tenants had no incentive because no one ever told them
they'd be responsible for a specified amount of fundraising.

Don't get me wrong -- everyone has been working hard to make this project
happen.  City staff, and Randy Rice in particular, have their hands full
because they must deal with this project in addition to their normal work
load. (That's WHY, Walter, the City is using donated 1912 Center funds to
pay one-quarter of the salary of the Parks and Rec director. Look at the
City budget.)

But the bottom line is there's never been a bottom line!

Again, I encourage everyone to help figure out how to make this project more
affordable.

Priscilla Salant
1912 Center Task Force
(These opinions are my own and don't represent the rest of the Task Force.)