$5 Million Facility Being Called A Federal Stimulus
Boondoggle
Last summer, the Fulton County Commission in Georgia approved
borrowing five million dollars from the federal government to build
an "aviation cultural center" to honor the Tuskegee Airmen, located
on a vacant patch of grass in a blighted neighborhood adjacent to
the entrance of Fulton County Airport-Charlie Brown Field. The plan
had its critics, especially given a county budget gap projected to
hit $100 million in 2012. But a $26.4 million bond measure to fund
the "Aviation Museum and Community Center" and other projects
passed.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports the facility, at
13-15,000 square feet, was scaled down from an earlier vision for a
museum on the scale of the College Park Aviation Museum in Maryland
or the San Diego Air & Space Museum in Balboa Park. But when
the scaling back happened, apparently some county commissioners
missed the fact that the new facility was now a community center
with no gift shop or admission fees. See also, no tourists, and no
opportunity to bring in revenues.
Commisioner Emma Darnell, who represents that county district,
and who pushed for the project, said revenues were never the point,
and that the purpose of the project is to use the stimulus money to
help surrounding communities hit by the recession. Regarding the
confusion among her fellow commissioners on just what the facility
would be, she commented, "It was sort of unfortunate that the term
‘museum’ was used."
The hefty federal loan will have to be repaid by the county with
interest. Annual costs to maintain the aviation-themed community
center are estimated at $350,000 per year. For that, the county
will get a building with meeting rooms, performance space and
classrooms, and possibly a fixed display with information about the
Tuskegee Airmen.
The project is moving forward, and is expected to be completed
by early 2013. Proponents hope the new facility will provide
constructive activities for kids, and a lift to a neighborhood
known for cheap motels and graffiti. But Georgia State
Representative Lynne Riley, who voted against the project when she
was a county commissioner, says, "It was represented as a museum.
If the use is going to change from that, I think the taxpayers need
to know."
Regarding the budget dillema, she adds, "Anything that is
outside the scope of mandatory government services should be off
the table."