The arena could be the start of a complex of buildings with links to the railroad museum and the like and this complex could BE the tourist attraction. In St. Paul the arena is a small part of a group of buildings that house theaters, museums, meeting areas, small concert halls, and the like. Across the streets are libraries, parks and the like. In other words, the center of St. Paul was what this complex became. Some of the very old attractions of St. Paul, and there aren't many attractions,
moved into this huge complex. This complex attracted the Republican National Convention and as Orlando expects their area to garner $200 mil from a national convention, I am suspecting this one event brought in a similar amount of money to that sleepy half of the Twin Cities.
My fear is more with the community as I don't sense much energy to think big and become anything other than a city between San Francisco and Lake Tahoe. There's a real identity problem here in my view but as it seems most of the people seem to like it, I may be the one out of step. I'll admit that. I tend to want to go for the gusto while most people around here are very tight.
Builiding creates jobs. This area has been hard hit and I think that's because we have no industry other than politics and almonds. I don't know how money things work but certainly there must be Federal money available for such a project.
Thinking grandiously, perhaps the arena could be the start of a major change and as much as people like this sleepy little town, businesses do not like it or maybe I am misinterpreting the high unemployment rate. Without business there are no jobs but there has to be something appealing about this area to attract businesses other than a railroad museum and a statue to the pony express.
