Dear editor,
Reading the WTO this morning (Nov. 22) regarding the parking garage, trying to keep my brain from running out my ears. Let me recap the "Impact Warren Project" in a nutshell: a $10 million parking garage that loses tens of thousands of dollars a year, has underwent $1 million in repairs, and still isn't fully functional; a row of empty upscale condos; $250,000 in utilities going to a vacant lot; a local company out $250,000 for sponsoring a non-existent conference center; a hotelier out $180,000 because he was trusting enough to buy one of the condos to live in Warren to run the non-existent conference center's non-existent hotel; a missing $500,000 grant the city gave away like candy, and is now paying itself back via a loan costing city taxpayers over $3,000 per month; same City wants to raise taxes after taking out a $500K loan to pay itself back.
We were sold a bill of goods by developers and certain politicians-the Impact Warren Project-by being promised "new retail stores" (didn't happen), a pedestrian bridge to Point Park (didn't happen), a waterfront amphitheater adjacent to the confluence of the Conewango and Allegheny (didn't happen), an extended riverwalk from the current one at Breeze Point to the Conewango (didn't happen), the transformation of Liberty St. from Pa. Ave. to Clark St. into a boulevard (didn't happen), a college branch campus (didn't happen), and engineering technical school (didn't happen) and a conference city/hotel (didn't happen).
Isn't it time for someone to clean up the mess and take out the trash?
Dean Wells
Warren