Are we in touch with reality???

[FormerOstrich]

I am alarmed at our Economy. I sense many DU members share my concern. I know that there are some Chicken Little moments, but overall I believe our concerns are founded.

Then I step away from my keyboard and I encounter something that seems so surreal to me it makes me wonder if I am crazy. In this case.....

There is a beautiful park in Mesa, Arizona; Riverview. I like to golf there (yes, I started golfing before I became a "former", I didn't golf for several years while my SO & I were not together, and if you carefully select municipal courses and walk it can be more affordable...but I digress). The park also has ball diamonds, urban fishing pond, and much much more.

I was horrified during our last election when the City of Mesa included on the ballot selling the land to become a wave park. This is Arizona! I was more horrified when the measure passed. However, it was dependent on more financing..blah..blah..blah. I have kept thinking in this economy nothing would happen. WRONG!

I golfed there this weekend. A member of the staff told me they had all been laid off. One of the other courses were assuming management for the short period of time left. They are not going to over seed for summer grass. Not only are they working on the wave park, it seems they are accelerating the schedule!

I was dumbfounded. I was hoping I had heard wrong. Yet as I walked along the course I noticed trees marked and surveyor paint. It just made me sick!

I scanned the internet to see if I could find more information. I couldn't. Pretty much everything is dated a year ago. Not even Mesa's website with the "wave-yard info" page has been updated since the election.

Now, I don't know about you but why would anyone consider this thing..espically now...or am I missing something...because I just don't get it!

Surfing Wavepool
Whitewater, Paddle Sports and Training Facility
Scuba, Dive and Snorkeling Lagoon(s)
Resort Hotel-A minimum 400-room, AAA 4 Diamond and Mobile 4 Star resort.
Retail- A minimum of 200,000 sq. ft. of retail shops, exclusive of grocery, warehouse and similar stores.

Waveyard Info

[DemocratInSoCal]

1. It Defies Explanation

They're actually tearing down a water park that's been near me for the past 10-15 years. And why? To put up a new housing development.

They also want to tear down the amphitheatre on the same land, which has been there about 28 years, but since it's lease doesn't expire until 2017, they will have to wait to do that.

I find it amazing that they are willing to gut a property which actually generates tax revenue, to put up housing, but that's their mindset.

Don't worry, the deep pockets taking over the golf course, and putting in the water park, won't suffer when it too goes belly up. They'll somehow take the money and run, and leave someone else(taxpayers, etc.), holding the bag.

[Breeze54]

8. OMG, those bastids!! Housing will replace a water park!?! The nerve

of them wanting to actually house people!!! :sarcasm:

[DemocratInSoCal]

11. Yeah, They Want To House People

The development that will be going in, will have prices starting in the $800,000's.

So quit it with the sarcasm. The only people they're going to be housing there, are the upper 5%, and at the inflated prices they're going to attempt to sell them at, they're not going to be selling quickly.

But thanks so much for your lame input.

[cornermouse]

2. I think they're on autopilot.

They know that what they're doing has always made money in the past and either it hasn't been brought to their attention that basic facts such as a thriving middle class have changed or they don't know what to do to adapt to reality. Around here, they have foreclosed and repossessed homes that they can't sell and yet they are continuing to build expensive new housing developments next door to the unsold houses. And look at how slow the U.S. auto industry has been to adopt hybrids.

[digitalbuddha]

3. This is a fakepost, right?

Cuz I can't believe you are actually complaining about getting rid of a golf course. C'mon, they are trememdous wastes of space that cater mainly to the upper classes, even public ones. So they are building a water park and a shopping center/resort. Seems better than golf, especially for pretty much everyone.

[FormerOstrich]

4. No, it is not a fake post....

I acknowledged golf has its downsides. However, as you may note, I mentioned there was much more to this park than the golf courses.

For instance, the park has a Soccer Field, Exercise Course,
4 Softball Fields, 2 Basketball Courts, Hard Surface Volleyball Court, and
Urban Fishing. Additionally, the park is unofficially the "kite" park as in many of the kite flying groups meet there.

In this case, the golf course is a 9 hole municipal course. The reason I like going there is because the people playing are not the stereotype. You can play for less than $15. The course takes about 3 1/2 to 4 hours to play. Most AZ golf courses use reclaimed water for their greens/fairways.

I think you have judged to quickly.

[RB TexLa]

5. If this stays visible long enough you will eventually be told

That soccer was started by armies kicking the heads of their enemies around after battles.

That softball is a luxury of the rich because of the cost of bats.

That basketball teaches kids to emulate criminals that play in the NBA.

That volleyball was started by armies as a way to play with the heads of their enemies if the ground was too wet to play soccer after a battle.

That fishing is cruel to the fish.

That flying kites comes from Ben Franklin and those flying them liked the story about his dealings with electricity and they love the fact that it put all those candle workers out of work.

[ColbertWatcher]

6. Huh?

"...they are trememdous wastes of space..."

Excuse me? Is your post a fakepost?

The city of Mesa, Arizona has decided to exchange an existing multi-purpose area for a water park.

A water park.

In Arizona.

I am assuming this is the same Arizona with the desert.

I am also stunned, FormerOstrich. This defies reason.

[FormerOstrich]

7. thank you!

Yes, in the desert. Granted it has always disgusted me how we try so hard to ignore the fact we live in the desert. Plus, I was extremely miffed when they decided to build the Tempe Town Lake (which has turned out nearly as disgusting as I thought). But nothing can compare to this development (IMHO).

Here is a picture from the City of Mesa's web site.

[ColbertWatcher]

14. I can just see your city council meetings...

...they don't begin with the pledge of allegiance, but with all the council members chanting
"We don't live in a desert, we don't live in a desert..."

How sad.

It all kinda reminds me of Dubya and his obsession with baseball. How he got tax payers to open that stadium in Texas and Washington D.C.

[blondeatlast]

13. Those of us in the Salt River water system know it isn't a fake.

Tempe permanently filled part of the often-dry Salt River for the same sort of thing and I want to cry when I drive by it even almost 10 years later.

This is precious Central Arizona Project water--the same precious water that built the Southwest and that farmers, ranchers, and Indian reservations have to scrap for.

I've lived here almost 30 years and seen the massive growth. I can welcome responsible development, but this is disgusting and totally unnecessary since Tempe already did the same damn thing and it's Mesa's next door neighbor, complete with the hotels, condos, convention center, and hideous chain stores.

[blondeatlast]

9. This is a travesty--there are about a half dozen waterparks in the Phoenix Metro area already.

I call on Mesa citizens to resoundingly defeat this utterly useless and damaging proposal.

I live in north Phoenix, but this is a Salt River water rights issue as well as an environmental impact issue and it affects all of us in the Metro area as well as Pinal County.

I share your concern, but so do many others--there's LOADS of info on this on the internet, actually.

Google search for "Waveyard" yields 2710 hits and the most popular are those debating the issue. http://www.google.com/search?q=mesa+waveyard&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=ie7&rlz=1I7GGLH

Defeat this bastard, please!

[FormerOstrich]

10. Mesa already voted to allow this...

but there were stipulations regarding funding, etc. I suspect many were like me and thought it might just die on the vine.

But...they are starting work on this. Yet, there isn't any new information. Everything I am finding is nearly a year old. The trees are marked. The staff at the golf course has been terminated. Yet, how do we know this company has fulfilled the requirements.

btw....I found the company's web site: http://www.waveyard.com

This isn't just a waterpark it is a pipe dream (IMHO). It just oozes scam if you ask me.

btw..I'm in Chandler. I wrote a ltte to the AZ Republic but I doubt they print it. I'll post it later but I have to run now.

THANKS!! Tell everyone you know in the valley they are starting this project!!!!

[blondeatlast]

12. Gad--they are marking it out? I'm sick to my stomach. Can corporations be arrested for vandalism?

Of course not, but a person has to hope.

BTW, Chandler did it right--they made a water park part of their public park system. It's a nice one, too.

[onethatcares]

15. hell, here in sunny St. Pete we got a 193 million dollar stadium

that no one knows if it will ever get paid for, (twas to cost 93 million in the beginning) and the city powers did behind the scenes dealing to stuff a new stadium down our throats, taking away our waterfront, and giving it to some dollared asssholes. They want to build this one badly. They say it's only gonna cost about 453 million and the taxpayers aren't gonna have to give hardly anything. This is for the losingest team in baseball, the farking rays that moved to Port Charlotte for spring training.