The overall plan includes: museums, a marketplace, a marina, housing and a hotel, plus four parking decks. A 300-space deck would be next to the Bass Pro store, two 500-space decks would be built in the Donovan and Webster blocks, plus a 1,000 space deck would be built on the site of the mothballed Memorial Auditorium across the street.
The $275 million project is expected to be split between public funds and Benderson Development. The ECHDC would pay for site preparation and construction of the three-level Bass Pro building with $25 million of $35 million from state, city, and county taxpayers’ money. The Aud would be demolished using the remaining $10 million. Bass Pro would pay fees of $300,000 a year, and spend an estimated $15 million to finish the store.
So we’re spending $35 million of public money to build Bass Pro and tear down the Aud. Bass Pro’s kicking in $15 million. Where’s the other $225 million coming from to do the rest of the project?