Blade's dumb idea to move Owens CC downtown

(my Jun 10, 2014 comment at ToledoTalk.com)

"Get used to this story. I think The Blade will make it into another crusade until the move is made."

Moving Owens CC [Community College] to downtown Toledo is so damn stupid that if the Blade keeps suggesting similar ideas, then it could become the new Carty.

It's possible that Owens Community College may have financial reasons for NOT increasing its presence in downtown Toledo.

About 12 days ago, Block Communications Inc. announced its plan to close the Blade's "production section of its building in downtown Toledo later this year," which will result in the loss of 131 jobs.

Did the Blade editorial board and columnists, such as Burris, write protests, denouncing BCI's business decision? If not, why not?

June 2007 Blade op-ed titled The Masons flee once more

THE announced departure of the Masonic organization from the Zenobia Shrine location it has occupied for nearly six decades on Madison Avenue is not the first time the Masons have decided to abandon the heart of the city.

Many Toledoans will recall that the Masons left their downtown temple at Michigan and Adams streets and opened a new Masonic complex in 1969 on Heatherdowns Boulevard.

(Is the Blade still upset about that 1969 decision?)

More from that June 2007 editorial:

Now the Masons intend to make their abandonment of downtown Toledo complete by relocating what remains of their operations at the Zenobia Shrine to an as yet undisclosed location in Perrysburg Township.

When the Blade's production section abandons downtown Toledo, where will the newspaper be printed? Perrysburg? Maumee? Berkey?

So why did the Masons move from downtown Toledo?

Declining memberships of Toledo's Masonic organizations has them looking for smaller, more cost-efficient facilities ...

It may have been a financial decision.

Why is the Blade's production section abandoning downtown Toledo?

... citing the expense of replacing aging printing presses and production equipment, The Blade proposed moving to an outside vendor for newspaper production when its current labor contract ends May 31.

In addition, The Blade’s Superior Street building is “expensive to maintain and it, alone, may require millions of dollars of repairs.” The newspaper has also “been losing money for many years, with losses exceeding $8.5 million in 2013,” the email stated.

It could be a financial decision.

The Blade protests others, such as the United Way's building plan, when they make decisions based upon financial reasons, but when the Blade makes a similar decision, that's okay.

From the Jun 10, 2014 Burris column

The combination of these factors has caused a number of people to say: Why not increase Owens’ presence in downtown Toledo?

Most recently, these voices have included The Blade, editorially, and Rep. Marcy Kaptur.

I think the "number of people" includes only the Blade and Kaptur.

Anyway, this has a familiar ring.

August 2008 Blade story Downtown site for University of Toledo law school resurfaces

There's a proposal out there to instantly bring 500 of the area s brightest young minds to downtown Toledo, triggering a wave of revitalization that could fill empty storefronts, attain the critical mass of urban dwellers needed for growth, and go a ways toward plugging the so-called brain drain.

The idea to move the University of Toledo college of law to downtown has again entered public discussion.

These proponents say that after some initial sacrifice on the university's part mostly in renovation costs the relocation would bring great long-term benefits for both UT and the city.

From the June 2014 Burris column:

[Kaptur] points out that community colleges are downtown in Cleveland, Dayton, and Columbus ...

From the 2008 Blade story:

A few of the nation's top-ranked and most prestigious law schools have downtown locations, including Northwestern University school of law in Chicago and Georgetown law in Washington.

Even though the Blade's production section plans to abandon downtown Toledo for financial reasons, the Blade feels qualified to tell other organizations how to operate.

#toledo - #business - #education - #politics - #media - #moronism - #blog_jr