Great American Ballpark great concert! (Cincinnati, Hamilton: sales, hotels, construction)

[swmr1ml]

I'm from Indianapolis and visited Great American Ballpark on August 4th to see Paul McCartney. WOW...what a concert and a great place for one; thanks Cinncinnati!

[kjbrill]

Why should Cincinnati be enthused about a concert at GABP? No matter what the outcome, damage to the field, expense to repair, etc. my question is What did this event do to retire the taxpayer debt earlier on the stadium? If the answer is nothing, then why was the event held?

Everything I read said Reds this and Reds that. Why is that true since the county still holds the major bill on the ballpark construction? Seems to me who has the say on how the ballpark is used is out of whack. I would think the good citizens of Hamilton Co. should have the say over all other uses and revenues. Just another example of how our politicos manage to circumvent the general populace and stick them with the bill.

[t45209]

Originally Posted by kjbrill

Why should Cincinnati be enthused about a concert at GABP? No matter what the outcome, damage to the field, expense to repair, etc. my question is What did this event do to retire the taxpayer debt earlier on the stadium? If the answer is nothing, then why was the event held?

Everything I read said Reds this and Reds that. Why is that true since the county still holds the major bill on the ballpark construction? Seems to me who has the say on how the ballpark is used is out of whack. I would think the good citizens of Hamilton Co. should have the say over all other uses and revenues. Just another example of how our politicos manage to circumvent the general populace and stick them with the bill.

Do you ever have any fun?

[kjbrill]

Originally Posted by t45209

Do you ever have any fun?

Yes I do, I like to play golf, and the courses I play are designed to make money, even those owned by the county or cities. They are not ripping off the non-golfer.

[kjbrill]

I want to comment on a couple of points. I have several friends who went to the concert and said it was fabulous, and Sir Paul sounded great. Of course modern electronics can make anything sound great if set up properly. Can't believe you were actually hearing Sir Paul, as his voice was not that great when he was young.

My objection stems from the point the Hamilton County underwriting of both of the stadia leaves the taxpayers holding the bag. This starts with the concession revenue from both parks. Why is it not operated by and funded to the county? The good citizens of Hamilton County are left holding the bag for the cost of the stadia, but their elected representatives negotiated away about every source of revenue to pay the cost back, starting with concessions and then special events use of the stadia. Why is the county not in control and reaping the revenue? Very simple, because their elected officials sold them down the river.

Of course Cincinnati is not alone in this arena. Just about every major city in the country had the same ploy pulled on them - sports teams threatening to leave unless they got new public funded stadiums. So we are just a bunch of sheep - follow the leader. Why did not enough call their bluff - fine leave and go elsewhere? One simple answer, our inherent pride of the hometown. In Cincy it is akin to the East vs. West argument, totally rediculous.

I am a lifelong Cincinnatian. But I deplore the fact we have allowed the funding of stadia for privately owned businesses to be part of our culture. And then not to reserve the avenues of additional revenues to help pay back the public debt, what is the excuse?

[Wilson513]

There are plenty of villains in this Stadium story. You can't blame Mike Brown. He stole almost a billion dollars from the County by extorting the stadium out of the politicians, none of whom wanted to be associated with "losing the Bengals." He was just doing what a greedy and unscrupulous person would do in the circumstances. all within his rights.

Principal among the guilty are the University of Cincinnati, on whose fraudulent economic impact study the stadium sales tax approval was predicated, Bob Bedinghaus, crooked politician installed to bless the vote, and scores of other weak kneed and self promoting pols who got aboard the choo choo train and led the county into the abyss.

The Reds deserved a public stadium 10 times as much as the Bengals did so the die was cast.

We should learn from these mistakes, but do not seem to be able to do so. The Toy Trolley is the 2011 version of the Stadiums. But it is not new. We also have the Slave Center and the Transit Station. Both much smaller problems but exactly the same formula for fleecing the taxpayers with something a small group wants and the rest are too apathetic to care about.

There was no chance Brown was going to Baltimore. It was a bluff. And, it only cost the city and county a couple billion dollars when one counts the interest expense and the absence of a real Riverfront development generating broad spectrum income to persons other than Mike Brown.

[t45209]

Once again, the OP started a thread about the great time he had in Cincinnati seeing a rock icon put on the show of a lifetime, and all you two can do is b****h about the stadium and other tangents. I think it's all a raw deal, too, but WOW it was a great show!!!!

[motorman]

Originally Posted by t45209

Once again, the OP started a thread about the great time he had in Cincinnati seeing a rock icon put on the show of a lifetime, and all you two can do is b****h about the stadium and other tangents. I think it's all a raw deal, too, but WOW it was a great show!!!!

Hey, kjbrill & wilson513--I have to agree with t45209 on this one! The poor OP offered a very positive comment about his/her visit to the city, and all you two guys can do is go off like rockets in negative feedback. Both of you are contributors who have provided tons of astute commentary on the local scene, and your points about the ballpark/stadium are well made--but why here?

[Wilson513]

OP Sorry for highjacking your thread with negativity. Glad you had a great time. Cincinnati is a great place to visit and a better place to live.

[abr7rmj]

Originally Posted by kjbrill

Why should Cincinnati be enthused about a concert at GABP? No matter what the outcome, damage to the field, expense to repair, etc. my question is What did this event do to retire the taxpayer debt earlier on the stadium? If the answer is nothing, then why was the event held?

Everything I read said Reds this and Reds that. Why is that true since the county still holds the major bill on the ballpark construction? Seems to me who has the say on how the ballpark is used is out of whack. I would think the good citizens of Hamilton Co. should have the say over all other uses and revenues. Just another example of how our politicos manage to circumvent the general populace and stick them with the bill.

^ Absolutely and utterly unreal. I'm speechless at this response. Not only is it the ultimate killjoy and an awful thread hijack, but you're about as fun as Ebenezer Scrooge on Christmas Eve. I can only imagine the pictures you have hanging on your living room wall: the Hindenburg explosion, the Titanic standing upright in the North Atlantic, a radar screenshot of Hurricane Katrina, downtown San Francisco the day after the 1906 quake, the asteroid impact that killed the dinosaurs ...

To the OP: Awesome that you had a great time! I was also at the concert and, having seen plenty of bands in cities/venues all over the country, including legendary venues like Red Rocks and Alpine Valley, I can honestly say that this was the very best concert I've ever attended.

I wish I could relive Thursday night - it was that good. It was nothing short of surreal to be singing Ob-la-di and Hey Jude along with Paul McCartney and tens of thousands of other people. And the Lennon and Harrison tributes were unbelievable.

And downtown Cincinnati on Thursday night ... Wow! Absolutely every restaurant was slam-packed with long waits for tables, bars were hopping hours before and long after the concert, hotels were full, the Square was hopping. It was an awesome scene and amazing to be a part of.