Wednesday, September 09, 2015

A Port Authority Building To Nowhere

With great fanfare, and with over $22,000,000.00 in public funds spent on a Port Authority public dock and terminal building designed for international cruise ships and acting as a customs point of entry on the Detroit River, there's just a small problem.

It is not suitable for US Customs to use and it failed to meet their requirements so they refuse to use it, so it cannot be used as designed. You would think a building designed for US Customs to use would not have overlooked that minor detail.

Instead the Port Authority building is currently being used for catering and holding wedding parties in a portion of the building.

Instead of spending an additional $170,000 to make it suitable for use, the plan now seems to be to sell it at a loss, likely to some politically connected developer.

Then again, all of one cruise ship docked there in the past two years. So it was a great investment of $22 million in public funds. On the upside 80% of the money came from the federal government so the building could be named after Senator Carl Levin with the remaining 20% from local boundless fonts of money - the City Detroit (now out of bankruptcy) and Wayne County (teetering on the verge of bankruptcy).

Yet another edifice and result of Democrat deficit spending, profligate waste, and incompetency in action.

The Detroit News: Port Authority open to selling $22M terminal building

2 comments:

Scott said...

Not being the spelling police, but I did enjoy your "pint of entry". I'd go there myself if they gave me a pint upon entry. I'd even meet you there for one. That would certainly be a better use for it than what Karl Lenin envisioned when he twisted some arms for a little pork.

Aaron said...

Scott: Good catch, and fixed. The waste of $22 million in public funds in this clown show is enough to drive one to drink.