For further proof that this museum will be a bust, we need only turn to the parking lot debacle, which consumed most of the deliberations last night. The council voted to give more money to the Museum Square project (by removing the TIF cap) so that an unwarranted and expensive parking garage could be added.
Yes, the 75+ street spaces plus the parking decks across the street to the northwest plus the surface lot to the southeast are just not enough parking according to the council and Museum Collaborative. Why? On-site parking is “part of the success factor for the facilities being built there,” said one of the presenters. “This is Peoria,” councilwoman Van Auken reminded us, as if we all just arrived here from outer space. People aren’t going to walk a block to the museum because “we live in a northern climate” and the weather isn’t always good.
With all due respect, that’s horse hockey. Ever been to a Bradley game? A symphony concert? A Chiefs game? Steamboat Days? Skyconcert? I would submit that Peorians park on the street and in surrounding parking decks and surface lots for these and a host of other downtown activities — in all kinds of weather. People are more than willing to park a block or two away and walk if there’s something worth walking to. If the parking deck proponents believe that people won’t walk across the street to see our beautiful, new, state-of-the-art museum, then why are we building it at all?
You are *so* right CJ.
Maybe this is why they wanted underground parking; because the museum has so little interest that people are not willing to walk more than a block to see it.
People are willing to put up with the hassle of parking and walking to events that interest them. That’s what will bring them downtown as well; something that will excite and interest them. I don’t see this museum exciting enough for people to even bother. I think this museum is going to be a terrible failure and will cost the taxpayers more than our city leaders ever imagined. Thank you to Gary Sandburg for making a stand against this boondoggle last Tuesday.
People won’t walk in cold weather…gee check out how far they walk going Christmas shopping at Grand Prairie..
And I don’t understand the need for all the parking in the first place. Who is going to park there? Most people work\go to school between the hours of 9-5 when the museum is slated to be open. More space for Willie York to hang out.