Schaumburg: Please rethink building an arts center

I've been reading in the Daily Herald about the village moving forward on the Performing Arts Center and I would like to express my opinion on this matter.

The village has been pursuing this for many years now, despite a previous referendum voting no. I think it is clearly the vision of one person to pursue this center, despite the fact that numerous studies across the country show definitively that these centers almost always run deficits for the communities which build them.

Our area has an oversaturation of performing arts centers, including two in Rosemont plus The Rivers Casino in Des Plaines, the Sears Centre Arena, Elgin Community College, Harper College, Metropolis Theatre in Arlington Heights, the Arcada in St. Charles, and probably others I've forgotten to mention.

None of these venues make a profit, or even break even, yet Schaumburg thinks throwing $100 million dollars into this venture is a good idea. Literally five miles up the road from where the village wants to build the Performing Arts Center, we have the Sears Centre, which has lost money since it was built. There is way too much capacity, and not enough consumer interest, to support this $100 million roll of the dice.

As taxpayers, we expect our elected representatives to spend our money as if it were their own and that is not happening in this case. Our property taxes have continued to rise at an alarming rate every year, and if the recession taught us anything, it is that most municipalities do not have enough reserves to cover economic downfalls and emergencies.

Please, Schaumburg, do not build another money losing structure (the other being the convention center). We cannot afford a $100 million albatross.

John and Eileen Cosgriff

Schaumburg