By Juan Montoya
What is going on here?
Remember we told you about the Brownsville Wellness Coalition's application from the Brownsville Community Improvement Corporation's for $360,000 to refurbish a dilapidated Quonset Hut Building (actually an old warehouse and cannery) located across from Cummings Middle School?
Well, guess what?
At tomorrow's meeting of the City of Brownsville's City Commission the item listed at the top of this post is not for the $360,000 that the BCIC placed on its public comment hearing back in April. Instead, it's for only $79,363.We say "only" because it their application to the BCIC, the BWC administrators said the $360,000 would address only the first of three phases that would have a $1.4 million price tag they intended to procure from grants and donations from other "donors and partners."
Numerous commenters to this blog have said that the pumping of money into the dilapidated building was ludicrous and an extravagance since the building had seen its better years. Bulldozing is and starting out again would probably save the city money.
They said – among other things – that spending $1.4 million toward the BWC's stated goal "to transform the warehouse from an empty abandoned building with structure that has been deteriorating to a gem to the corridor of downtown Brownsville, providing a designation for the Farmers Market and other community events, while levitating the stress of city workers in setting up the weekly market" was an elitist exercise that would benefit a small minority in the city.
In the application, BWC administrators said they the first $360,000 to install a new roof, shore up the structure and bring the electric wiring up to snuff. The rest – about $1.1 million – would pay for the other two phases.
In the backup material for Tuesday's meeting, BCIC states that "Brownsville Wellness Coalition application for Quonset Hut Building project for $79,363 is a collaboration agreement between City of Brownsville, Mitte Cultural District, Brownsville Wellness Coalition and Fine Arts of Brownsville."
They envision storage for the farmers market, artisans workshops, a healthy cafe, kitchens to teach people about healthy foods, a cold storage "hub" and a food court so tired cyclists can lounge and relax amidst a bohemian ambiance.
"BWC would lead this project and serve as multipurpose building. The building is located on 6th and Ringgold in the entrance of the Mitte Cultural District. The aim is to transform the warehouse from an empty abandoned building with structure that has been deteriorating to a gem to the corridor of downtown Brownsville, providing a designation for the Farmers Market and other community events, while levitating the stress of city workers in setting up the weekly market. The building improvements will be performed in three major phases. BCIC funding will get the project “shovel ready” for the upcoming phases.
Oh, so the BWC wants the $79,363 (or eventually $360,000 on the way to the $1.4 million) toward the task of "levitating the stress of city workers in setting up the weekly (farmers) market and eventually transform it into a "gem to the corridor of downtown Brownsville."
Isn't that nice of them? They want to save the city money in personnel costs the city is already giving Rose Gowen's farmers market and want the first $79,363 in sales-tax money in return.
The reasons the BCIC is recommending this project is because they want to exercise "responsible stewardship of tax dollars and (to) embrace BCIC’s partnership role and responsibility to invest in the resources that improve Brownsville, Texas’s quality of life assets that supports economic development opportunities in Brownsville."
Oh, my the verbiage gets deeper and deeper every time they discuss this project.
The question now becomes: Will the city commissioners go along with this expensive proposition that will benefit a few select people in the cycling, artsy stratum? And if they do, will they be prepared when the same crowd comes back for more public dollars to fund their classist whims?
5 comments:
Man that build is sweet you can't order shit like that off amazon anymore.
We hope that the city commission don't approve such request, enough tax dollars have already been spent on pet projects. Enough is enough, lets put a stop to this uncontrolled spending of our tax dollars once and for all. Remember La Casa Del Fraude I mean Nylon, that should be a wake up call to the new city commissioners.
Here we go again, the city is collecting more run down real estate at the tax payers expense. Tear it down and start again....or build an open air market place. Rose Zavaleta Gowen is surely behind this. Why spend city money so others can make a profit?? The market should be run by either a non-profit organization or it should be funded from sources other than the city. It would be great to have the market at Market Square....to add the historic prospective to this activity. Knowing this city commission's plan, this hut will become a "modern hut", just as the Stillman shack became something it never was; and now takes up far more space than it ever did.
It has potential. Commissioners need to finish one project at a time instead of working on 10 only to accomplish 1. Beer Garden?
Fuck you, Diego ! Stay off the blogs and spend time taking care of your kids,you stupid,stupid jerk. Jim blocks your comments on his blog.Sad.
Post a Comment