Superbowl 2012 Coming to Indy
Given the amount of money our city could have spent on streets, schools, and infra-structure, I’m ambivalent about this news. Plus I’m no Dungy fan. But I am happy for the Colts, and hopefully I can get a little more excited over the next four years.
I evidently should be excited about the Legacy Project, which was a community development piece of the bid proposal that some people suspect sealed the deal. The Superbowl will somehow reenergize the near East Side of town, which is where I live. All day I’ve been hearing words like “struggling” to describe our neighborhood and those around us, but the only “action” I hear our would-be benefactors talking about is a 9M dollar sports center to be built for nearby Tech High School. That’s good news for a school that deserves it.
But while 9M dollars worth of facility is nothing to sneeze at, a tricked out gym does not a revitalized community make. Is there more to this plan than I know about? I can’t help but think that 9M dollars would sure buy a lot of sidewalk and textbooks. I suppose the 9M could have been spent in worse ways.
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May 21, 2008 at 1:23 pm
I have a lot of mixed feelings about money spent on sports, especially on the high school and college levels. On one hand, it seems like a total waste of money. On the other, the sad truth is that some people (students and parents alike) would have no interest in school if it weren’t for sports. Not to mention the income athletics generate. I’ve never taken the time to investigate what percentage of that income goes back into general funds of schools rather than directly to athletics. That’s probably an important part of the analysis.
Sorry – long way to say that I agree with you.
May 21, 2008 at 7:13 pm
Lene,
Hadn’t looked at it this way as I was so caught up in anticipation about the excitement that will come downtown. Thanks for puttin’ my brain in check to look at the total picture. Will be interesting to see what happens with Tech and how that 9M practice arena’s benefit will reach.
May 25, 2008 at 3:14 am
Yes, there is more to the plan than just a training facility, though you wouldn’t know from reading the Star because that rag never covers anything positive about the east side of the city. The near east side is participating in the Great Indianapolis Neighborhoods Initiative (GINI), and for more than a year dozens of neighbors and neighborhood organizations have worked hard to put together a quality-of-life plan. It lays out a map for where the community wants to head in terms of housing, economic development, livability, etc. The next step is to put the into action, and I believe the Legacy Project will assist. But of course it takes residents to commit to it and to participate, so I invite you and others in Holy Cross to help out by getting involved in NESCO and other community organizations, Troy! We need your help! If you want to see a copy of the quality-of-life plan, let me know, and I can e-mail it to you!
May 25, 2008 at 2:17 pm
I’ve seen the quality-of-life plan. I’m still not clear what the connection is between the legacy project and the plan. It’s quite large though, so maybe I’m just missing it.
And we are helping, George! We have about 70+ people at each of our Holy Cross neighborhood meetings. Most are working hard to flesh out the Quality of Life plan in our area. We already spend many hours each week supporting it in addition to addressing the specific hopes and dreams that our neighbors have.
We are active participants in KIB’s Neighborwoods project and are partnering with them to expand that involvement to things that will enhance our gateway to the Near East Side. We average two neighborhood clean-ups each year and typically one or two tree plantings. In between all of these we have volunteers who are helping out with local schools and service centers.