Lubbock needs some dog parks!
And an in-door shooting range
And a go-cart race track
And a miniature golf course
Annnnndddd a nice sandy beach! Yeah I want them ALL!
Geeez, my “quality of life” is – fire protection, good streets, good utilities and trash collection, police protection (get rid of the bums!!!). I enjoy the parks and walk at one regularly many people walk their dogs and make sure they act right and clean up after them. Why should such a small percentage of the city people have a special area just for those? And the locations?
Oh…. My quality of life would be much better if the police would pull over and ticket more people that are playing on their phones and not driving properly!!!! Would help keep my blood pressure down!!
M.
Rah, Rah, Rah . The drumming of the Hub City’s civic cheerleaders is deafening until a hard core reality sets in : somebody has to pay the bills and then a city fudiciary lottery begins where you rob Peter to pay Paul . I know that you folks up on the plains are assuredly more sophisticated than we plebs in the Key City , however, the results will be the same. Quality of Life projects that people expect local governments to fund in perpetuity are ideas such as the “dog parks (we got one of those) bond approved water park owned/run by the city will never pay for its original price tag let alone upkeep for the next 20 years of debt while the city streets “…are the worst I’ve ever seen..” , according to a tax paid consultant to point out the obvious while a 47 year-old civic center requires $16 million of immediate attention plus $2 more million in annual maintence when its restrooms aren’t ADA compliant while generating $ 630,000 in revenue . No thanks, no more QoL projects on the public dole ; otherwise the city will tack on an another 11% tax on the water bill to pay for their past neglect.
Bob, could not agree more. I too live in Abilene. You know when I was a kid we had to make clothes and shoes last. These were bought twice a year, so it was take care of it and it will last. However, our city of Abilene lets parks deteriorate to where walking or riding a bike could mean a trip to the hospital. Butternut and So 20th has been a disaster intersection for YEARS. Yet, they want to build new this, and new that, and build new schools. WHY DID YOU NOT TAKE CARE OF THE THINGS WE ALREADY HAVE ? They closed Lincoln Middle school because it was deemed unsafe. YET, they won’t sell it ! Why ? Historical reasons ? Well that’s great. If it is a gem like they say,….WHY DID YOU NOT TAKE CARE OF IT…? It was okay to use the school as a pawn with the media showing us all the peeled paint, rusty pipes and broken concrete. Why was the upkeep neglected ? Where did the funds for that go ? And of course, the old slogan BUY ABILENE. Yet they hire out of town consultants for every damn thing. Does Abilene not have folks who can tell if roads are bad, or if a building is truly deplorable for habitat.
Addressing the original post:
I am a commercial developer and I can fill you in on those items. As far as the dog park, I had been working with Dan Pope on plans for a Dog Park across from McCallister field. The city was going to redesignate the land and I was going to pay to put in the park (it is a memorial to my deceased sister). The plans had to be put on hold because (and I have to be vague here) a very crooked restaurateur that made the mistake of coming here. We had a large development deal with him that was an immediate lease-saleback to a 3rd party so decided to fund the building purchases and improvements ourselves. Unfortunately I have 3 vacant buildings that have tied up too much cash so until I get them leased and sold, I can’t proceed with the dog park (and believe me, no one is more upset than I).
Adventure park is going to address the requests save the indoor range. We do have an indoor range now and it is very nice. I talked to them about putting it in one of our buildings but couldn’t agree on terms.
We’re working on several other projects geared towards family entertainment (trying ot get Dave and Busters but the pretty much scoffed at Lubbock………….they don’t understand this market).
Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions. You can email me directly ([email protected])
Again, I apologize for the delay on the dog park.