A downtown activist is trying to sway public opinion of Frank Kass' credibility and his ability to develop our riverfront. Mr. Kass did not seek out Toledo as a place to do development. He was sought out by Mayor Finkbeiner and other officials because of his excellent track record in completing both the Pittsburgh riverfront project and Columbus' downtown development project.

I would suggest that this person meet with Mr. Kass, or contact the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, The Blade, or the Internet before judging his character and qualifications. I know him to be a dynamic person who looked at our riverfront and saw it through the eyes of a developer as to what it can become.

For many years, community leaders have talked about rebuilding the Sports Arena, and to this date nothing has been accomplished. Further, the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority has received a sizable grant to develop docking near the downtown area to be used for Lake Erie cruise ships and a hovercraft.

These exciting projects are going to bring tourists to Toledo, generate revenue for our local restaurants and hotels, and encourage our downtown development efforts. Looking at the old Toledo Edison plant and the blight that now encompasses that area, clean-up is desperately needed.

Toledo City Council, the Board of Lucas County Commissioners, Mayor Finkbeiner, the Toledo-Lucas County Port Authority, many elected state officials, and Continental Retail with Mr. Kass support the Marina District at the East Toledo site. The Marina District project is going to make Toledo a destination for visitors from across the country plus generate jobs and revenue.

We are extremely fortunate to have this beautiful riverfront and we should make the best possible use of it. I am confident that Frank Kass and Continental Retail can do the job and do it well.

ROBERT McCLOSKEY

Councilman

District 3 Representative

It's been more than a decade since our last romance with a flashy out-of-town developer. Yet despite the Portside debacle, pretty much on our own we've fashioned a downtown poised for a real comeback. The SeaGate Centre that replaced the Exposition Center and the Mud Hens from Maumee will soon be neighbors. COSI and the historical Valentine Theatre emerged along with hotels, fine dining, clubs, convenient parking, apartment living, markets, and The Docks. We deliberately built them all within close proximity, mostly within walking distance.

Our wise intuitions have begun to make downtown Toledo a viable, accessible center that will benefit everyone in the region. A noted San Antonio urban author, Mike Greenburg, comments in his book The Poetics Of Cities, “Good city planning uses proximity to promote exchange and create value, Proximity is the business of cities.”

However, we are not finished. Empty storefronts and spaces still abound. Since our Hens only play 70 days a year, we need a complimentary and architecturally significant arena that would result in another 200 days of entertaining activity. That is why the Cleveland Gund Arena is next to Jacobs Field.

Enter Columbus-based developer Frank Krass, our latest suitor. He proposes building an arena on an obscure former industrial site, far from the Mud Hens stadium. He is dreaming up new parking garages despite the slim use of the existing ones. After a fanfare entrance promising nearly complete private investments, he is now asking for major public subsidy. His proposal is disconnected from our downtown, and will permanently disrupt the potential for progress there.

Winston Churchill once said, “We shape our cities and then our cities shape us.” We should use reason, not desperate blind passion to shape our city. This will benefit ourselves now, and future Toledoans later.

MIKE ZYCHOWICZ

Hopewell Place

Those of us who wish to construct a new classically styled arena on Madison Avenue in the Mud Hens-SeaGate-Valentine neighborhood wish to protect our - the citizens' - infrastructure investment, and to create a critical mass of urban-population energy. We plan to erect museum-quality arched limestone entrance facades around what are now Central Business District surface parking lots on Huron and Jefferson, facades that will complement and unify the elegant bank buildings of the previous century found on Madison Avenue and St. Clair Street. We propose to partially finance this venture through evening and weekend parking revenues from structures built by the city of Toledo, and leased to the Downtown Parking Authority, which are now occupied only during business hours.

We concur that the East Toledo waterfront, too, needs a design lift. We like the idea of marina living near Front and Main Streets. Deep river channels carved into the old Sports Arena site will provide water access to boat houses, docks, and flower-filled decks. Brightly colored tarps and sails, a yacht club, apartments, bait shops, pubs, wine bars, boutiques, and restaurants will add charm to the city.

Here is our better idea: Complementing the marketing strategy of appealing to affluent seekers of outdoor entertainment and upscale amenities we suggest that the mile of coastal shoreline running north from the marina to the I-280 bridge be developed into a luxurious Pebble Beach-style golf course with greens-fees in the hundreds of dollars. Fairways would be lined with condominium housing backing on Front Street, and culminating at a luxurious club house restoration in the beautiful, arched-brick Acme Steam Plant.

Would you prefer to live next to a sports arena or a golf course?

LOU ANNE MILLS

Maxwell Road

Editor's note: Ms. Mills is affiliated with the Downtown Toledo Consortium.

In Rose Russell's May 19 column, something I was quoted as saying during April's Cincinnati riots was presented out of context, thus changing the meaning of my words.

In the midst of the days and nights of violence and rioting that gripped my hometown of Cincinnati two months ago, many individuals, members of the clergy, lawful activist leaders, and government officials exchanged ideas about how to stop the rioting and again make the streets safe. There were some elements, however, that embraced the violence and looting and threatened to escalate the level of unlawful activity if their demands were not met.

In the context of these discussions, I commented that city officials should only be discussing an end to the violence with “legitimate black leaders,” and not those who seek to achieve their ends through violence, looting, and racial intimidation.

I strongly stand by that remark. It was clearly in reference to leaders in the black community who understand that furthering effective social change cannot be born of threats and lawlessness.

Although the rioting has stopped and we have begun to rebuild, feelings of racial division remain in Cincinnati. A meaningful discussion of the issues can only be had in an environment free from violence or intimidation.

I have spent most of my life not only upholding the law, but striving to uphold it equally and without regard to the color of a person's skin. Having lived in the Cincinnati area all of my life, I am more than an interested observer when it comes to embracing racial harmony, and I am proud of my record in that regard.

JOSEPH T. DETERS

Ohio Treasurer of State

I would dearly like to know when Eileen Foley last had a happy, pleasant, and, most important, pleasant thought she felt compelled to share with readers of The Blade.

It is clear to me that none of the three traits is part of her life experience.

If The Blade is truly one of America's Great Newspapers, surely it could find someone with more to contribute than her.

ROBERT F. UTRUP, JR.

Scottwood Avenue

`Dullsville' after Carty?

I hope Toledo doesn't turn into “Dullsville” when Carty steps down. He does put the backbone in the town! You can be sure he is for Toledo. What a gutsy guy!

MARGUERITTE SORRELL

Walbridge

First Published June 13, 2001, 10:25 a.m.