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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowAnthony Schoettle’s Feb. 13 article highlights plans for the newly minted asset of Georgia Street downtown. This $13 million taxpayer-funded outdoor venue connects Bankers Life Fieldhouse on the east and the expanded Indiana Convention Center on the west. Yet, peculiarly, the Capital Improvement Board, which runs the indoor facilities at both ends, will have no part in managing Georgia Street. This venue would seem a perfect additional revenue stream for CIB, which is coming off losing an estimated $800,000 as a result of paying the city’s public safety costs for the Super Bowl.
Instead, under a no-bid contract Indianapolis Downtown Inc., which has a reported cash balance of $8 million, will profit from future events on Georgia Street. Unlike CIB, IDI is not overseen by public officials.
It is a real shame that Mayor Ballard has turned such an expensive community asset with real revenue potential into a missed opportunity to help taxpayers going forward.
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Brian Mahern
councilor, District 16, City-County Council
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