Quote:
Originally Posted by You Need a Thneed
The bridge is supposed to be 22 million. A basic bridge that would meet the same design standards (no piers in the river, etc), would be at least 15-16 Million. Do any kind of "sprucing up" and it probobly hits 18 million. Really we are only talking about a 4-6 million dollar difference here, at the most. The price premium the detractors are talking about is really very little. And really, you don't get much more in terms of instant international recognition (for a bridge) than putting Calatrava's name on it. What I mean by that, is that even if a different designer created something even more beautiful, it still wouldn't be talked about as much, simply because putting Calatrava's name on it creates international interest.
Besides, the second new pedestrian bridge (in the east village) will likely be designed in a design competition, or be designed by a local architect.
There are MANY places where tax dollars have been spent more foolishly in this city than paying an extra 4-6 million on this particular bridge.
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I know I know... But spending seems to be getting out of control and I'm sure that the extra 4 to 6 million dollars could have gone to a much more worthy cause (ie road repair, opening more beds in the city hospitals, more hockey arenas for kids to play hockey in). These days, it just seems like a large majority of the council members at silly hall don't seem to think they are accountable to anyone these days and they spend like there is some magic money tree growing behind city hall.