Local Bloggers Have A Right To Question City!

Midland, Michigan Loons Ballpark - HOK Design

Some of the local bloggers have been taken to task for our questioning of local government and the people associated with it. Sometimes the questions are well founded. The past actions of city officials provide reasonable reason to question the openness to our local community. They provide only information and deeds to serve their wishes and not that of the community at large. Again, we see exclusive is greater then the inclusive government!

The selection of HOK Sports to design and manage the building of the baseball stadium at Harrison Square is not the issue. The selection of who was going to design the new baseball park at Harrison Square was not decided in a one hour meeting. In fact, one would guess some city officials discussed it for weeks and maybe even months. The selection of HOK was the best choice and there is no issue with HOK Sports in the least.

What city officials failed to disclose to the public was that HOK had already designed a baseball park for a Midwest League team. The scale and the scope of the project would nearly match that of Harrison Square. It would have provided the public a chance to see the work of HOK, at a level we should see in about 18 months. One has to ask why?

City officials did not bother to mention that the Midland, Michigan Loons play in a HOK designed ballpark. Just maybe, they did not want local residents to see that Midland's ballpark was built on corporate donated land and is, in part financially supported by a local foundation group. That the businesses in the community stepped up to home plate and hit a grand slam home run for the community!

Below is a link to a story written in Baseball parks.com about Midland's ballpark. HOK designed this ballpark and it contains story and photos.

http://www.baseballparks.com/GreatLakes-1.asp

The next time some local blogger questions something about Fort Wayne officials, they just may have sound footing to pose the question. Then again, if it takes a local blogger to bring a question to the front one, has to wonder what our local professional media outlets are doing?