Quote:
Originally Posted by MarkMyWords
I'd be interested in knowing why you think this to be "not a major new venue".
|
When facing pushback on their planned removal of the historic buildings and the small scale of the project given the Downtown location (both changes for the worse since its original proposal), PPU and its allies argued that despite the limited scale of the overall project, this theater would provide a large boost to the area by attracting theater-goers. It is the same sort of argument people make on behalf of other entertainment venues like stadiums and such.
This picture graphically demonstrates why that was always a fantasy. The number of non-student people it serves over a given year is going to be small compared to what, say, just a modest restaurant would achieve.
You might be right it is not viable to actually build a major new performing arts venue from scratch, but there were other alternatives. For example, this student theater could have been just a part of a much large complex (as originally proposed, in fact).
In any event, my point is simply that to deflect criticism, PPU and its allies dramatically oversold this theater's value as a public amenity.