Promised by city officials at a price-tag of Mesa taxpayers' money, $63.4 Million-bucks of debt, ASU President Michael Crow and Mesa Mayor John Giles were shovel-ready to turn-over a pile of dirt for a nothing-to-rave-about building, located on the site of a former parking lot at Pepper Place and Centennial, behind City Hall.
“There won’t be controversy at the groundbreaking. . .
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We will be celebrating,’’
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We will be celebrating,’’
said Jeff McVay, Mesa’s downtown transformation manager.
"Somebody pushed over the first domino.
That domino thing is starting to fall.
It’s great,’’ McVay said.
That domino thing is starting to fall.
It’s great,’’ McVay said.
That's McVey's chosen metaphor for The Game of Dominoes
Isn't that ASU 3-story money-pit supposed to be a part of what's been hyped time-and-time again as "The Rise of Mesa's Innovation District??" -- the dig is to install unanticipated over-budget costs
Price tag now $100,000,000
Taken out-of-the-pockets of Mesa taxpayers - to construct one new building that rich ASU could have paid for.
Price tag now $100,000,000
Taken out-of-the-pockets of Mesa taxpayers - to construct one new building that rich ASU could have paid for.
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HERE'S THE SPOON-FED MEDIA HYPE / PRESS RELEASE (City of Mesa Newsroom)
"The City of Mesa and Arizona State University held a groundbreaking ceremony today initiating construction of ASU @ Mesa City Center, a new state-of-the-art academic building that brings ASU to downtown Mesa.
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| Spoon-fed Augmented Reality |
"Mesa is thrilled to be breaking ground on ASU @ Mesa City Center," Mayor John Giles said. "These programs from the Herberger Institute for Design will use augmented reality, virtual reality, 3D modeling and visualization to develop technology with the potential to impact industries as diverse as healthcare, aerospace, manufacturing and entertainment. This building is already attracting interest from Fortune 50 companies interested in the emerging technology."
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". . . Along with the ASU building, the City is designing Mesa City Center as part of a burgeoning downtown innovation district.
The first phase is made up of a two to three acre gathering space called The Plaza @ Mesa City Center and an adaptive reuse of Mesa's first library at the southwest corner of First Street and Centennial Way into The Studios @ Mesa City Center. "
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Read more hype > http://www.mesanow.org/news/public/article/2451
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". . . The Studios will allow the collision of ideas between industry leaders, entrepreneurs, students and the public."
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. . . The controversy started here >
Then AZ State Senator Bob Worley appearing in public with ASU lobbyist Matt Salmon in a public appearance in front of the Mesa City Council where he admitted that while an elected public official he was gambling $20M for his own private wealth-creation of rampant real estate speculation.
The first phase is made up of a two to three acre gathering space called The Plaza @ Mesa City Center and an adaptive reuse of Mesa's first library at the southwest corner of First Street and Centennial Way into The Studios @ Mesa City Center. "
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Read more hype > http://www.mesanow.org/news/public/article/2451
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Then AZ State Senator Bob Worley appearing in public with ASU lobbyist Matt Salmon in a public appearance in front of the Mesa City Council where he admitted that while an elected public official he was gambling $20M for his own private wealth-creation of rampant real estate speculation.
