What could $80,000.00 USD do for Windsor?

We already know that the $80,000 USD being spent on the Grand Prix could have been used to secure the Buskers Fest, but what else could that money do for Windsor?

• Pay for the final phase of the Community Improvement Plan for Glengarry Marentette -Glengarry-Marentette Waterfront Village urban design guidelines ($75,000)

• Sustainable Downtown plan, a Community Improvement Plan study to to finalize a financial incentive program for investors wishing to redevelop downtown with shops houses and residential lofts. ($60,000)

• Park Playground replacements: at an estimated cost of $30,000 to $40,000 per park, up to 3 more parks could be added to the list for replacement this year - Adstoll, Esdras, Little River Acres, Riverdale, Thompson and East Riverside are the parks slated for 2008 that could be moved up

• Parks and Recreation Health and Safety Orders: double the current funding to begin dealing with a backlog of Health and Safety orders. ($75,000)

• Adie Knox Herman Recreation Complex - family changeroom ($71,840)

• Adie Knox Herman pool refurbishment ($52,200)

• Gino A. Marcus pool refurbishment ($48,000)

• Oakwood Community Centre - upgrades and refurbishment ($46,300)

Those are just a few examples from the City's 2007 Recommended Capital Budget.

All of the branding, re-imaging, communications and messaging in the world isn't going to accomplish anything unless we are willing to address the underlying issues.

Coming up next week - What will $100,000 and $250,000 buy the City of Windsor (the amounts we're currently contemplating spending on "rebranding, imaging and communications).

PS. to my knowledge, we still haven't heard exactly what the City of Windsor is getting for it's $80,000 USD investment in the Detroit Grand Prix