Press-Citizen Finally Seeing the Forest Through the Trees?

This op-ed piece in the Press-Citizen finally seems to bend a tad on the paper's almost unwavering support for the giant economic vacuum that is the proposed fake rainforest in Coralville, Iowa:

"The initial question raised by the e-mail is what was Townsend hoping to accomplish? "GE, Ford, SGI, HP, Interface, USGBC, the US Depart-ment of Energy, the US Department of Educa-tion, CAA, and all the other world class entities WE are about to bring to your town, never heard of Coralville until WE introduced them to it. Frankly, none of them care a hoot about Coralville even now," he wrote. That's not the way to get the project done. It is difficult to tell if the e-mail was a temper tantrum or an attempt to intimidate. In either case, certainly there is a more constructive approach. An arrogant and pretentious tone won't win supporters among Coralville's residents, which is who city staff and the City Council are accountable to, after all."

The tone is condescending. The project itself is condescending. That's what we've been desperately trying to convey to you. The entire thing sounds like a bad remake of the Music Man: a fast-talking salesman tries to convince the local yokels that an outrageously expensive and useless project will be just the thing to put the small backwater village on the map. And we're falling for this? Are you serious? I'm still in disbelief it got beyond the idea phase.

"At the same time, Townsend's obvious frustration raises questions about Coralville's commitment to the rain forest project. He's spent millions to get the project going and clearly feels it's playing second fiddle to the proposed Marriott Hotel and convention center. Is it? If so, what does that mean, not just for the project but Coralville taxpayers?



Of course, no one can blame Coralville if it gives the impression that the hotel/convention center is taking priority. It should be. It's been among Coralville's goals for more than decade, the city has a financial stake, and it has gone to court several times to ensure construction. Should Coralville really wait for the rain forest to raise the remaining $90 million needed to build the rain forest?"

My only response to this is a great, big, old, sarcastic "Ya think?" Supporters keep telling us this is the next big thing, we'll have 1.5 million visitors per year (4100 per day), they also feel that they will get at least 5 million in research grants. If that's the case, you'd think private investors would be crawling all over themselves to get a piece of the action. Not so much. Maybe they know what we've been trying to tell you all along?