The public forum
recently held at the MOH by Porter County Tourism Bureau was billed as an
informational session, where people could get their questions answered, but
very few were.
The public, shut
out of the process, has been forced to ask repeated questions and do
extensive research to glean the few tidbits known.
Pavilion Partners
have obtained a 35 year lease with two possible extensions for a total of 65
years, giving them exclusive rights for concessionaires, multiple bars,
restaurants, photo studio, gift shop, and more, basically a mini-mall on the
public beach, all for the profit of just a few people.
They will have no
land purchase cost, no property taxes, and no increase in their shockingly
low lease payment of $18,000 per year for the life of the lease.
People had been
urged to submit questions before the meeting. It turned out that no one
actually intended to answer those questions, they were simply read aloud,
rapid fire, by board attorney David Hollenbeck.
When long-time
environmental activist Herb Read stood to speak, he received a standing
ovation. When his remarks could have gone more than the two minute limit and
multiple people offered to give their time, the board rigidly clung to the
two minutes and told Read to stop speaking.
It was said at that
meeting that the architect's rendering of the banquet hall first made public
in April was strictly to "show mass." That's very odd, in that the design
was defended multiple times previously.
The ‘thing' is on
stilts, PP has told us, "to interfere as little as possible with the view,"
and "to provide needed shade" and the windows will "provide a panoramic
view."
Now we are told no
plans for the historic pavilion can be viewed because they are not complete
yet; this when they have already done untold damage to the interior of the
historic Pavilion, there is already a signed lease and it’s been called a
"done deal."
The size of the
project has changed, the style apparently has changed, and the included
amenities have changed.
What little is
known about the project has come directly from Pavilion Partners, so if
there are further problems, they only have themselves to blame.
In the meantime,
people are still waiting for their questions to be answered, as promised.