According to the new “Build the Block” website, “The Block will embrace the concepts of new urbanism to encourage a scenic, walkable community where people live, work and enjoy leisure activities.”

Where people live? Where exactly are people going to live on this block? Because I don’t see any apartments, condos, or hotel rooms in their plans. Heck, I don’t even see a habitable second story on any of the buildings. Or are they referring to the homeless who will camp out in the ample green space at night when the block is dead?

You can’t fool people into thinking that this block “embrace[s] the concepts of new urbanism” when it manifestly does not. Just saying it’s new urban doesn’t make it so.

Also, from the Journal Star article today:

“Caterpillar has already put $56 million on the table that would all go away if the museum isn’t built,” Brad McMillan, the spokesman for the museum collaboration group, said. “We need to ask: Is it in central Illinois’ best interest that Caterpillar drive deep stakes in this community?”

First of all, it’s interesting that the group has a new spokesman. Is he their first official spokesman, or does he replace someone else? I don’t recall. Secondly — and I’ve mentioned this before but it’s worth repeating — notice that the museum group is now using fear and intimidation to get you to support the museum.

Follow the logic here — if we build it, it means Cat “drive[s] deep stakes in this community.” The implication is, if we don’t build it, then Cat will not have “deep stakes” here, meaning they could go away and take all their jobs and prestige with them. Ergo, we should hand over our money to this museum because otherwise our city will face economic ruin as our biggest employer moves out of town.

I find that line of reasoning offensive, and to hear leaders like Mayor Ardis and Sen. Koehler parrot the rhetoric is very disappointing. What kind of leadership is that? Either the museum on its own merits is good for the region and worth the investment or it’s not. What Cat will or will not do is immaterial. If Cat told us they would leave unless we all stood on our heads or jumped off the Murray Baker Bridge or built a big $100 million golden statue of a tractor in the middle of the Illinois River, would our leaders be encouraging us to do so? It sounds like it.

Not only that, but as astute commenter Dirk pointed out in a previous post, “If the only thing keeping Caterpillar in Peoria is this museum complex, and nothing else, then I would venture that Caterpillar isn’t very committed to staying in Peoria anyway. Why would a museum [solely] keep Caterpillar anchored here in Peoria? Business is business and economics and not about some amalgam of buildings for tourists or visitors.”

It should be noted, again, that Caterpillar is not making any threats themselves. All they’ve said is that they’ll only build their visitors center if the museum is built next to it. They haven’t said anything about this project deepening their ties with Peoria. Thus, there’s no promise of longevity from them if we build it and no threat of moving if we don’t. The only ones inserting fear and insinuation into this matter are the museum cheerleaders.

Finally, there’s this:

“This is the (Peoria) Civic Center moment of our generation,” said Michael Bryant, the president and CEO of Methodist Medical Center….

The only thing that’s analogous to the Civic Center is that it would require a permanent sales tax to support it. Fortunately, this time the voters will get to decide if that tax is levied.

I wasn’t able to attend the press conference today, but here’s the official press release of what was announced:

Peoria, IL – The area’s most prominent business leaders today announced they are backing a new capital campaign dubbed “Build the Block!” Its goal: to raise $8 million and the public awareness needed to help create a building block of our future.

Through a group known as the CEO Roundtable, a Heartland Partnership Organization, these leaders strive to drive economic and cultural development in the region. The multi-faceted project they are supporting encompasses both Caterpillar’s planned visitor center, and the Peoria Riverfront Museum, a collaboration of the Lakeview Museum of Arts and Sciences, Peoria Regional Museum Society, Peoria Historical Society, African American Hall of Fame and Illinois High School Association (IHSA). The development will also include art and history exhibits for all ages, an IHSA Peak Performance Center, and state-of-the-art planetarium and IMAX theatre facilities, all in a park-like campus designed to transform seven vacant acres overlooking the Illinois River in downtown Peoria.

It’s estimated the development will attract more than 360,000 visitors and up to $14 million in Peoria County revenues annually. The funding strategy for The Block calls for 58 percent of the total funding or $78 million to be raised through private contributions; to date $66 million has been committed.

To reach its $8 million private funding goal by early 2009, all community members are encouraged to donate through BuildTheBlock.org. In addition, the Riverfront Museum collaborators are continuing a capital campaign to raise private funds from patrons.

Remaining funding will come from a combination of government sources in 2009. The Block has garnered significant bipartisan political support from U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, U.S. Rep. Ray LaHood, State Sens. Dave Koehler and Dale Risinger, State Reps. David Leitch and Aaron Schrock, and Peoria Mayor Jim Ardis.

To kick off the Build the Block! campaign, the fence surrounding the currently vacant site of The Block, bordered by Washington, Main, Water and Liberty streets, has seen some colorful improvements. Panels now pop with oversize graphics and informative panels sharing the excitement of what’s to come inside the fence—from “Hang with the Stars” touting cutting-edge planetarium shows and “Feel the Noise” introducing the benefits of the planned stories-tall IMAX theatre, to “Master Full,” previewing the prestige of top Smithsonian exhibits the new museum will accommodate.

For more information about the project, including the latest news and funding developments, check out our website www.BuildTheBlock.org or you can contact Renee Charles at The Heartland Partnership at 495-5905, 229-7791 or e-mail rcharles@h-p.org.

They have consistently, over the years, talked about how they expected to get a certain percentage of the funding from private donors and the rest from public sources. The announcement today was about their efforts to close the gap in private funding. But even if they’re able to do that, they still won’t have enough public funding to make this museum plan a reality.

The public sources were supposed to be the federal government (earmarks from Ray LaHood) and the state (which, if you haven’t noticed, is not doing very well financially these days). The justification was that this is a “regional museum” and would draw people from all over the state and, it’s sometimes claimed, the nation. But, since neither of those public funding sources have panned out as planned, that’s why the museum group is attempting to get those funds at the county level through a county-wide sales tax (or less probably, a property tax hike).

The trouble is, we can’t afford it. We’ve got big expenses coming up in Peoria. The school district is starting on their new school buildings, bonds for the new library upgrades will be on our next property tax bill, construction has started on a new publicly-funded airport terminal, and the $100+ million CSO project is looming, just to name a few things. State and federal funding sources would impact us here in Central Illinois very little because those funds are being drawn from a larger pool of taxpayers. A county-wide sales tax, however, would be a huge burden on a population already reeling from increased taxes on top of inflated fuel and food prices.

Furthermore, polls have already shown that the chances of voters approving a tax increase at referendum is slim. How long are we going to keep beating this dead horse? It’s time to come up with a new plan.