If you can get todays Wall Street Journal, do it. Pitts, Phila and Balt are loosing population after billions of dollars of REDEVELOPMENT FEDERAL AND STATE dollars have been spent and have done nothing other than keep the wheels greased.

We are so far okay due to the amount of private money being invested in the city. However, this Convention Center project, so wrong for the character and purpose, will either choke the city or eventually be recycled into something else.

As I drove past the Stock Yards yesterday and saw all the vacant land, I thought how awesome that area would have been for a convention center rather than the Watt and Shand space. We here in this County could have had a win win situation had it not been for all the GREED of a chosen few not to eliminate Mr. Charlie [Smithgall?] who was one of the backers of this mess.

Editor's note: The original much smaller version of a convention center on the Stock Yard site would have met legitimate local needs, had good highway access, proximity to the train station, ample parking, and three nearby hotels - one upscale and two economy - totaling about 600 rooms.