Giving random people money for nothing is the exact opposite of something with "provable community benefit". And the last 3 years have made that clear as day if it wasn't obvious enough without it. "things are expensive these days", so let's print more cash and make it worse, right? This project sounds like a waste of money, but what is actually needed in most of the western world is austerity, not replacing counterproductive mass spending with more mass spending.

Life changing things for $3k? Sounds like a great investment.

The land already belongs to the city, it was transferred in 2020.

They city may have scaled back their initial ambitions for the site given the ballooning costs, but the land will still be there and could be further built out at a later date. Assuming they didn't expand the scope of the police training center to include the portion of the land that would have been used for vehicle maintenance and storage.

Lincoln Highway Hub and Center for Creative Reuse

> And your opinion that we do need this facility is based on. . .what analysis exactly?

I've never actually said it was needed. I wanted to know your reasoning for concluding it was wasteful and unnecessary.

I’ll pm you and yes I’m gate keeping it because we’ve seen what resellers did to the ones in the city

They scrapped plans to do this, and to make it exclusively a cop playground. Meaning this property is no longer available for this. Someone posted this elsewhere in the thread.

Nonetheless, they would likely spend more on a replacement then whatever they would make on a real estate sale.

a good thrift store requires good business and i’m ready to support it :)

Seconded! Particularly West or South of the city :D

> Also, by the time the city buys land and builds another facility, they would likely spend more than whatever was made by selling the property.

The city doesn't have to buy land. This site is the former Veterans Administration hospital campus and the federal government gave the land to the city for free.

And your opinion that we do need this facility is based on. . .what analysis exactly? The cops saying we need it?

The vast majority of the savings the city claimed they were getting when this project was first proposed were from consolidating all public safety services and the public works facility in The Strip. Those savings are now gone, because those departments are no longer included in the plan.

There are existing plans to enclose the shooting range that don’t involve spending $120 mil on a whole new facility. The cops have also been offered the use of the North Park shooting range owned by the count, but they refuse to use it. So if this were really about solving that problem, we could have done it years ago.

Yes.

I understand that point of view. However the city in the past seems to have a habit of selling valuable real-estate far below market value to someone who is politically connected.

Also, by the time the city buys land and builds another facility, they would likely spend more than whatever was made by selling the property.

east, west, north, or south?

Strip district is prime real estate now. Could probably sell the land for a few million to a developer that will put it back on the tax rolls, and then move those operations to a less expensive area.

My favorite thrift store is 40 mins out of the city but it shall remain unnamed. Found lots of old concert tees and other vintage clothes there also really cool furniture there

Red, White, and Blue on 51

Same thing happened to deblasio. The police union is the mafia with badges.

How about we use the campus for everything but the Cop Lair? That sounds cheaper and more impactful to City services. That Strip District car prison needs to get back on the tax roll ASAP.

> Cost overruns have always been the reality for big government projects.

 
Fixed that for you

> The city is currently parking ambulances and dump trucks on millions of dollars worth of Strip District property.

I think that was part of the original plan for the site, though from the City Paper article it sounds like that may have been one of the items that got cut due to the cost inflation.

https://pittsburghpa.gov/press-releases/press-releases/5397 > The project will save millions of taxpayer dollars currently spent on leases by relocating public safety operations and public works storage from around the city to the campus. The City plans to bring Emergency Medical Services headquarters from Shadyside, Police Headquarters from Chateau, Police Training Academy from Allegheny West and the vehicle repair shop from the Strip District. The plan also includes building an indoor firing range on the campus to move it from its current location in the Highland Park neighborhood. Locations that will be vacated that the City currently owns can be sold to be put back on the tax rolls and redeveloped to benefit neighborhoods.

Why, the city already owns that property. What would be the point in needlessly moving it?

Your conclusion that it's unnecessary and fills no pressing need is based on... what analysis exactly?

The city does claim that it would save millions of dollars by centralizing existing facilities, and in theory those freed up properties could be sold off and returned to tax roles. How many of those facilities are at the end of their life and need major renovations regardless?

The shooting range is supposed to be indoors, which would replace the outdoor police firing range in Highland Park which I know has been the source of occasional complaints about the sound of gunshots in this very sub in the past.

You can use money to buy things

All I’ve learned from Gainey so far is that the cops have him completely bent over