Spiece In Danger Of Closing - Is City Government To Blame?
Posted by Jeff Pruitt - 12/11/08 @ 12:02 pm - Filed Under Featured, Local Politics
It seems the city council thinks tax abatements are great economic development tools and the idea that they may actually be harmful is considered crazy talk - maybe this will get them to see the other side. Anne Davis, executive director of Spiece Fitness, has released a document detailing the value Spiece brings to this community and why it might be lost. Mike Harvey, who alerted me to this information, has a good post over at Fairplay Volleyball that is definitely worth reading.
It turns out that the Gym Rats organization, which brings all the basketball tournaments to town, is considering other locations when their lease expires in 2010:
Over half a million people come to the Gym Rats camps and tournaments in Fort Wayne annually. Third party economic studies have reported Gym Rats, Inc to bring in over $10 million per year to Fort Wayne.
The FWCVB has been a supportive ally to Gym Rats, but no other support has been give to Gym Rats by the City of Fort Wayne. The only requests made were sidewalks and interstate signage to better accommodate the out of town traffic.
Gym Rats’ lease is up in 2010. The owner, Todd Hensley, has opportunities with various partners to move their business to Indianapolis, and is considering these options. Such consideration poses a legitimate threat to the $10 million per year brought to our city.
So the city gives abatements to Spiece’s new competitors like the ice rink and the 24/7 fitness center at Harrison Square but can’t put in a few sidewalks and interstate signs for a company generating millions in revenue for the city?
This is what happens when the government distorts the market by giving abatements instead of lowering tax rates across the board to encourage investment. If the Gym Rats pick up and move to Indianapolis then we will lose a tremendous amount of revenue and Spiece will inevitably close down in the process.
At this point it’s not clear to me why the Gym Rats are considering changing venues or what can be done to make sure they stay here but somebody in local government should be finding out…
H/T: Mike Harvey
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24 Responses to “Spiece In Danger Of Closing - Is City Government To Blame?”
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Your post is dead on. The government needs to stop giving preferrential treatment by granting tax abatements and instead lower everyone’s tax rates.
Mike Sylvester
Now something just happened on my other end. I just found out someone HEARD there was a smoker up at the bar at River City. Now the fire department is going to do a complete inspection. I’ll try to stop by tonight and find out what’s going on.
I run my beach volleyball operation at River City and my indoor operation centers around Spiece. Fair Play Volleyball is a renter under Spiece Fitness.
Wait a minute….hold on…..
I thought we were told TIME AND TIME again how Harrison Square didn’t need any tax abatements because Spiece was a success without them.
Guess that was not really true….
Kevin,
I don’t know about that. I’m going to try and get more information on this…
What are you talking about? I don’t get what you are saying at all… Who told who what? When? Links? Quotes?
Spiece is not asking for a tax abatement.
There wasn’t anything in the original post that said they wanted to pay less in taxes, which is refreshing.
If Gym Rats were to move to Indy, the entry fees for their various tournaments would probably go up. It would also be more expensive for teams to stay overnight in Indy compared to Fort Wayne. So, it is possible that Gym Rats is just thinking out loud and hoping that the city comes up some improvements.
Asking for sidewalks and highway signage is just wanting something for the taxes they do pay.
Right. The sidewalks and signage is just the attitude of “let us help you help us help you ad inf”. Its extremely reciprocal.
The Gym Rats aren’t thinking out loud here. I don’t think they would come begging for anything in any capacity. Indy would bring some challenge and excitement to grow in a city that considers itself the amateur sports capitol of the country. Anne and I are concerned, however, and whatever needs to be done is not much at all I’m sure… Maybe even just a wake up call to see the other side.
I think a major point of putting out the info about what Spiece does for the city is to encourage others to do what they are doing in their own realm. Using the Gym Rats example it would be fantastic for me to get youth volleyball tourneys going the way they are doing with basketball. I personally know that would be difficult because there are at least 3 disparate groups running youth vball in town that are all unlike each other and would not cooperate. But nevertheless even with the beach vball in Fort Wayne its something that Indy doesn’t have. More people would be jumping on Maglev train to come here than go there in my realm.
I would like to see what others, other businesses have to offer in their own realms, but not to the point of being a leech.
“I wouldn’t take any subsidies. It’s not government’s job to support me,” said Spiece, whose love of Indiana University basketball is reflected in the jerseys and other cream-and-crimson memorabilia scattered throughout his sprawling 150,000-square-foot complex at 5310 Merchandise Drive. “I’m noncoercive. Economic progress is made only when there’s a willing exchange between buyer and seller.”
http://www.news-sentinel.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070904/NEWS/709040309
Kevin,
I don’t know if you are deliberately creating a cloud or something but either go back to previous posts and information or read this:
Spiece doesn’t want a tax abatement.
The Gym Rats don’t want a tax abatement.
I (Fair Play Volleyball), or River City, don’t want a tax abatement.
But all want fairness in business and taxation.
As far as the smoking issue I mentioned here earlier, the deal is that there is, in fact, going to be an inspection. It is going to be Monday morning at 8:30 am at River City… when it’s never open. This is based on hearsay. They heard that someone was smoking. As I understand it the normal procedure is that if there is word that there is smoking in a place (and quite frankly from talking to various bar people since yesterday it happens in every bar in town) then the fire marshall randomly shows up.
The fire department was at River City this summer. They have, historically liked to cruise through on occasion, because I think they like to look at the girls, or maybe the fruity ones like to look at the guys, I don’t know… lol. Whatever the case they are cool… They have given tips and have been very helpful when they stop.
Because of the fire inspection the landlord asked the fire department about putting in a wood burning stove and they said “No”. When asked why Casas can have a wood burning stove they said that they cook food on it. So now there is a wood burning stove being installed upstairs at River City. On the 27th I am having a Bubble Hockey/Ping Pong tournament and a “Roast and Toast”! Kevin Knuth, will you be by partner in the Bubble Hockey tournament? Please? lol
I want to make it clear that some city people have been great. The aforementioned firemen… Anne at Spiece tonight told me of a good interaction she had in the recent past. I feel bad at times for abuse that some have to take sometimes… In other cases… not.
Well dammit, Robert Enders made a comment on another post… I was trying to dominate the recent comments, or keep Kevin off…
Dave, the landlord at River City, feels that the fire inspection is retribution for another issue. In addition to the over $800 bill he has to pay monthly for the relatively new stormwater fee, there is also now a yearly $500 fee which he hasn’t been paying. When it has come time for floods he has been denied requests for sandbags. Why should he pay it if help has been denied in the past?
I noticed the last line in the N-S article asked for a sign on the interstate.
So, the question is why would the city not spend a few thousand dollars on a one time expenditure which would help keep $10 million a year here? We are talking about a established business not some pie-in-the-sky dream.
The sidewalk issue is usually a project that the city and the property owner would go in together and pay for.
Maybe Rob Young with the Alliance could help figure out a solution.
The free market solution here would be to buy billboard ads along the interstate and buy your own sandbags. But I’ll still plug the Fieldhouse on my blog tomorrow. And call me if you need help filling the sandbags.
To be honest I really don’t know what kind of interstate signage it is. No way does sidewalks and signage equate to the level of “tax abatement” territory.
And thanks for the sandbag offer. It was interesting back when the flood happened that only Libertarian or Libertarian leaning blogs were the only ones making the call to get out and help. Kind of telling…
What’s up? Do we wish for free enterprise or
Government control?
“It would be nice to get a sign on the interstate,” Spiece said.
“I wouldn’t take any subsidies. It’s not government’s job to support me,” said Spiece,
shouldn’t the free-market be promoted with at least equal vigor?
Kevin Knuth on December 11th, 2008 6:36 pm needs to explain his socialists, government controlled idealogies … (enterprise ideas, anyone?)
I think the tax-payers are paying enough. I think it’s time that new blood is coming & free enterprise is alive….It’s time to get er’done…a total new market place.
Yes it will always happen in the United States and here in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
And also it is realized that a tax abatement is not simply money handed out, as a recent J-G editorial was sort of dramatically trying to point out recently. But its all about net effect… if money is saved that would have been spent then same deal for the most part. Correct me if I’m wrong, or if you are Kevin then come in and weave a cloud.
And I realize that there has been Brown/Goldner/council movement to improve the situation in this area.
Also, as far as getting the word out on the blogs about the story of the need for flood volunteers the Berry St Beacon was right on the front line of the story. But I didn’t see any downtown proponents type blogs mentioning it for instance, or see them when I went downtown to sandbag, but they could have been on site already like the blog writer mentioned above I suppose. That’s just a little point about the “get ‘er done” attitude that Bobett just mentioned.
Yeah, those damn downtown bloggers.
Too bad they didn’t get the word out about help needed or show up at the sandbagging facility
Mike,
Blogs cover what they do for a variety of reasons. For example if a story is all over the traditional media then a blogger may decide it’s not worth writing about it.
There’s always someone complaining that some blogger isn’t covering this or that story but I think we all do the best we can and people should remember that we don’t get paid to do this. Blogging is essentially a hobby and takes up a tremendous amount of time and not an insignificant amount of money.
And in the end if you don’t think a certain story is getting the attention it deserves then you can write your own post (as you did about Spiece) or start your own blog (for those that don’t already have one)…
Nice job, Scott, that was quick… I must not have had yours on my RSS at that time but had CFW, ACDP, DID & a few others. I have developed a blatant bias re: downtown after being exposed to attitudes, comments and actions that are lousy from my point of view, and would take time to even get into. I understand that you bloggers (us bloggers) do this on our own time and that both of your blogs are helping Fort Wayne basically when you certainly aren’t being paid to do so… uncovering crap that the local media doesn’t touch or get right… sorry.
Re: the tax abatement question I know that there are some that wouldn’t spend money that was already going to be spent and are worth taking a chance on but there were several bad examples (fast food restaurants for example) in the recent past that came to the forefront.
Sorry to Kevin too… he may have just missed the info above like I missed info too. Also, sorry for the strange bubble hockey reference… for me it is a unifying thing like sports is for races. Also, sorry for the gay fireman reference but I saw an amusing picture our resident fireman blogger had on his facebook just before that and it made no sense to mention that idea here either… sorry, sorry and sorry and now back to business… lol
[...] Davis of Spiece Fitness and Todd Hensley of Gym Rats to try and clear up a few things regarding the document Davis recently released. For those of you that don’t remember, that document highlighted the economic impact Gym Rats [...]
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