Wednesday, May 18, 2016

The next City workshop will be on what topic? Maybe about "That Beach Complex"

It's old news that the Casino complex is a failed business plan. The terrible state the building is in has been well documented here. Remember all the "green" parts of the building that were "value-engineered" or "Greenwashed" out to bring the building in on budget? One of the good things to come out of the since-ended Invitation to Negotiate (ITN) process was the people responsible for this mess, JoAnn Golden, Cara Jennings, and Commissioner McVoy, et al., are being called out and made to answer for their folly at "THE BEACH!".

The Lake Worth Herald had an editorial on this titled, "That Beach Complex" and pulled no punches:

     Through the years, Lake Worth Beach has been a political football. In the haste to get a new casino building, politicos [see image below] sold the citizens out for an inferior complex.
     Now, the citizens are saddled with a complex built with inferior material and a space no one wants to lease.
     Had the building details meant more to politicos than getting something done to put their name on it, Lake Worth would not be facing the issues it now faces.
     There was no consideration given to the pool and pool buildings, which sit adjacent to the new Casino Complex. The pool is a major expense to the city and should have been considered in the original plans. Politicos realized they would never get the money necessary to build the building they wanted if they had to include the pool facilities.
     Compounding the problem, they forced a guaranteed maximum price on the builder, who had to “value engineer” the property. Now we have what they asked for, and we have to deal with it.

Note that those responsible for this terrible mess have never had another group photo taken since the building opened:
There's not much more time left to keep "kicking this down the road". Another mess left over from the 'visionaries' in a previous City administration. Do you see the one holdover?