Stadium looks like another boondoggle
by Henry Soloway
LAS VEGAS REVIEW JOURNAL
Jan. 16, 2013
To the editor:
I've read three articles in the past few days all touting the benefits that would accrue to Las Vegas if only we had a new 60,000-seat special events stadium as part of UNLV. And the stadium would only cost $800 million to $900 million - a mere pittance - when you consider how much it would do for our second-tier university and for the hospitality industry.
Funny how these fluff pieces appeared just prior to the opening of the legislative session, considering that those promoting the stadium will require a "special taxing district" to make it all happen. Of course, that's a euphemism for using OPM (other people's money) to build it.
Let's look at UNLV first. If there is $800 million to $900 million to spend, is the best use of the money to build a stadium? Clemson and Auburn are shining examples of second-tier colleges that are really professional football teams, with teaching a very distant priority. Is this what we want UNLV to become? Does anyone think that a major investment in a fancy stadium will improve the quality of teaching or the national educational ranking of UNLV? I certainly don't.
But putting $800 million to $900 million into recruiting nationally ranked faculty, recruiting the best and the brightest students from Nevada and elsewhere to matriculate here and developing new programs that are relevant to retaining talented students in Nevada after graduation might be a wiser investment. It might move UNLV from a second-tier university to a first-tier university (think Harvard, Stanford and Michigan).
As for the hospitality industry, if the industry believes that a stadium will be beneficial to its businesses and to the community at large, it will raise and spend the money to build it. None of the major properties has yet committed to whether - and how much - money they will contribute to this project.
So at this point, the cheerleaders and facilitators of the stadium are using a study from their own paid lobbyist touting how much economic return and educational benefit we can expect to reap. It's the Las Vegas Monorail all over again. It also sounds like we are being asked to buy a very expensive pig in a very expensive poke.
FAMOUS LAST WORDS
“If the Board of Regents and UNLV President Neal Smatresk want to raise money for something, why don't they raise it for the medical school - which would really helpSouthern Nevada - or at least something that will help educate Las Vegans and adhere to the university's mission statement - not just entertain them in the ‘Mega Event Center.’" - Steve Witzel of Las Vegas
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