Quote:
Originally Posted by PHX31
Of course it's for a paved parking lot, which is absolutely not needed. Ever taken a look at the parking within, north, and northwest of the fair grounds? Is this going to become some sort of VIP parking lot similar to the one Sarver made next to US Airways by demolishing those historic hotel structures?
Their estimate to renovate is ridiculous, and their plan for a parking lot is ludicrous. (really? you think you'd rake in $100,000 in one month with a 40 space parking area? 40 spaces, $10 parking, 30 days of a fair = $12,000. Are they going to charge $100 to park there? What fair-going demographic would fork that out?) Just cordon off a part of the existing fairgrounds asphalt for a new parking area and leave this building alone. I guarantee there is room, and it would cost a lot less and cause less headaches than going through this demolition.
The Arizona Exposition and State Fair Board, a self-sustaining state agency owns it--what exactly is this? Do they own everything, including the land and Veterans Memorial Coliseum?
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Points of clarification:
Their intent was to tear it down not for parking, but rather for tented vendor space. Apparently they have much more luck renting tented space to vendors, because the vendors have more visibility, so thats where those revenue projections come from.
I can actually buy that, what I can't buy is that there's some kind of lack of room on the fair grounds. Ditch a few parking spaces, or lay things out more efficiently, the whole thing is poorly laid out in terms of maximizing their space.
The AESFB is a state agency that doesn't receive state funds. They own everything from 19th Ave to just east of the Coliseum, from Encanto to McDowell is my understanding. I'm not sure if they own those surface lots to the West of 19th Ave, but I assume the answer is yes.
It gets very confusing though because some of the buildings on the State fair site were involved in all of that sale-lease back stuff the state did a few years back.