Quote:
Originally Posted by SecretAgentMan
I think the controversy comes from using a transportation bond to pay for an expensive facility that people won't get to drive their cars on. The boathouse will be paid for by the Waller Creek TIF, which is money that would not exist if not for the Waller Creek Tunnel. Construction of the tunnel is what necessitates demolition of the existing boathouse, so it is only fair.
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Or, more accurately, the money wouldn't exist w/o the TIF. I wouldn't say 3.4M structure is exactly an even trade-off for what is there now. It looks like those structures could be rebuilt for less than 1M. The original estimates were 1.7M, so its now doubled.
Quote:
Originally Posted by NAL
Yes, but ... The city will get "concession fees" from whomever is chosen to run the boathouse, as noted in the linked article. The Austin Rowing Club may have to raise its member's fees to pay the concession, which seems fair for their limited use of city property.
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I was curious exactly what the concession fees were, and ran across some other info. According to the Statesman, the club currently has 400 members, so I was WAY off on the WAG above. If they gross 400K per year, then concession fees could be 10%??? 40K per year???? Interest on 3.4M is 14K per month, or over 168K per year, so the concession fees are not going to pay for that.
http://www.statesman.com/news/conten...103rowing.html
http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/parks/concessions.htm
The numbers just don't add up, when you compare it to the boardwalk.
I'm not super crazy about what looks to be a view blocking design, unless they welcome the public to sit on the upper deck.
Current structure:
[New rendering]