The Discussion Continues

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Valhalla":

Yes we have all sorts kids that want to do Shakespeare or Chess or Bridge.... Is this 1912 or 2012?

I have a child at Williams SS. Those things exist there already, why do we need to duplicate it.

Why did The Hotspot close? It had nothing to do with the venue (or lack of). Kids today don't want to participate in those activities.

We need to strike a committee that can find the true needs of the youth in Aurora. I would suggest that those on the committee should not be over 40. We are dealing with people that have no concept of black and white TV,no internet, no cell phones, etc.

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Thanks for  the input.  .

Likely it was  students who  provided  the consultant with  ideas for a dedicated youth facility.

I agree  high schools are providing  most  of these programs.

And  students may already have plenty to occupy them with homework, after- school curriculum and part-time jobs.
But  a space for teens is only one of the uses,I'm thinking about in this building. I visualize an internet cafe.

None of  that other stuff I mentioned  is  specifically for students.

It's intended for  people  making a living at mundane jobs while hiding a  light under a bushel . Or retired people able for the first time in their lives to indulge in a passion  heretofore denied.

Or young people  with hopes of making a living  in the arts.

Or for practitioners always looking for way to improve.
 
Or   people who do it just  because it's the love of their lives.. 

Nobody questions the need for hockey rinks,soccer fields, baseball diamonds or swimming pools. Schools have many of these facilities too.  Nobody challenges the value to the community of providing these facilities.

A huge part of the municipal budget is used to provide leisure  opportunities of all kinds including the arts.

It's the only department  that produces  revenues sufficient
to pay for the programs.

The same spending could never be justified for a dedicated facility to provide for the arts.

I would not be the one to propose  taxing people to provide it. .

But we have $33 million dollars to spend for a purpose we would
not  otherwise place as  a burden on the taxpayers.

We have a site that we own.

We have a golden opportunity to add something to our repertoire that may  prove to be an investment that  pays dividends in business development.    

We would be remiss if we did not avail ourselves of this  delightful  and productive opportunity.