Take One Medical Mall Debate, Call me in the Morning

Cedar Rapids Mayor Ron Corbett said this morning that he still intends to have the City Council vote this evening on whether the city will close a portion of Second Avenue SE to make way for a shiny new medical mall.

I plan to be in attendance. After all, the debate over the medical mall has it all.

Will the city close Second Avenue, angering vocal local advocates of unimpeded municipal travel? Or will the City Council turn away from closure, raising the possibility that PCI's doctor-investors will take their $36 million project to the wide open spaces of Hiawatha? And what will become of downtown CR's once-hopeful Medical District plans?

I have somehow successfully avoided writing about this issue for months. I've tried, Lord knows I've tried, to summon up a strong opinion on it. But the stronger pull of skepticism-driven apathy has been inescapable. I just can't fling myself to one side or the other. Perhaps I'm not alone.

I understand why people don't want the street closed. I even sympathize. I see the potential for travel hardship and inconvenience.

But I also have lived in many places where development projects, road upgrades, etc. have spawned major changes in traffic flow. Those changes generally cause much confusion and complaint - for about a week. Then everybody adapts. Sorry, I know people feel strongly about this, but that's been my experience.

Second, I understand why Mayor Ron Corbett and city boosters want to close the street and secure the Medical Mall's place downtown. It's a big private investment. So far, recovery downtown has been all about public buildings and government investment. Private investment is the missing piece.

Sure, the city is making incentives, such as plowing property taxes generated by the mall back into the cost of the project, through Tax Increment Financing. Altering streets will be costly. This is generally what cities do in these situations. Not everybody likes this public pot-sweetening, but Cedar Rapids isn't exactly beating off big ticket private projects with a stick.

Still, I think the oft-heard arguments about this facility spawning tons of nearby businesses and making Cedar Rapids in to Rochester are overblown.

The hard reality here is the city will have to move streets and forgo taxes just to keep these jobs and services in the city's core. Maybe some related development pops up, maybe not. But in this economy, and at this time in the city's history, this is what passes for a victory. Again, sorry.

Letting those jobs and bucks leave town over the street issue is something you might do in boom times. These are not boom times.

I'm betting the council swallows hard and closes the street. And if it doesn't, I think the facility will go to Hiawatha. I don't think either scenario is the end of the world. On to the next debate.

Mayor Pro Tem Monica Vernon wants to delay the vote and find some sort of compromise. But I get the sense that the moment of truth has arrived.

I'm looking forward to sitting back and watching the drama tonight. Corbett says he's not sure how it will turn out.