It is painfully obvious that far too many public officials were sold a bogus bill of goods in the form of the “Pennsylvania Academy of Music”. Millions of taxpayer dollars were spent on a single-purpose facility which appeals ONLY to a select type of individual, of which there are far too few in Lancaster County to support a project of this magnitude.
The false promise of “downtown revitalization” was expected to be created by a facility which by design appeals to far few people to support itself. Politicians, plutocrats, and civic leaders bought into the fantasy that if you build a world-class facility, the world will come. Real life doesn’t work that way.
Now $14.5 million ADDITIONAL taxpayer dollars will be spent to not only purchase this almost-new building, but also to renovate it into a form that might actually be useful. Whoever designed a school with inadequate classroom space, poor handicapped accessibility, and a grossly inadequate loading dock clearly did NOT have a firm grasp on reality. Unfortunately, neither did our local and State government officials when they failed to perform even a minimal amount of due diligence before handing over millions of taxpayer dollars to fulfill the personal fantasy of two individuals.
