It appears that the new end run for Celebration Hall is to sign on with Lexin JUST for a little bit, one short year, so that we may all be impressed with our enhanced quality of life, so much so that we are willing to joyously fork over an estimated $500,000 annually. What we will receive for major contribution to Lexin Capital’s bottom line and how deep OUR pockets really need to be, all of that remains to be seen.

I have been re-reading Robert Caro’s stunning biography of Robert Moses, The Power Broker, and am fascinated by the art of public mind-bending employed by Governor Al Smith and Robert Moses. They KNEW that if you got the Public to commit to spending SOME amount of money, then you had won. The concept as presented did not have to be valid-or even mildly REALISTIC. Because once you SPENT the money, well then, you were LOATHE to walk away from your investment.

And THAT is how the slippery slope begins.

Moses was in the business of legacy/monument building. The roads and bridges which epitomize his massive achievements buried BILLIONS of wasted dollars, suppressed a whole lot of information, and trampled the rights of many, many regular people. No one can compete with Moses for sheer scale, yet in our own little town the actual NEED for this kind of venue is being subjugated to the DESIRE for some small scale MONUMENT BUILDING right here in Celebration.

I am opposed to any lease in Town Center. And it’s NOT simply because it is Lexin, it could be anybody, Voldemort, Darth Vader, ANYBODY. It is self-proclaimed PRIME RETAIL SPACE. Why would Lexin not want to utilize The AMC Theater to strengthen their retail chain rather than breaking it? And why do we, an HOA, NEED Prime Retail Space?

Perhaps, to Lexin, finding a qualified tenant has become tedious. As a community I recommend we avoid becoming emotionally involved with such a needy partner.