In Edmonton did Khubla Katz a pleasure dome decree.

My apologies to Samuel Taylor Coleridge, but one has to wonder at the influence of Emperor Katz on the activities of the City of Edmonton. We are, after all, talking about an arena and not something essential to the future of the city.

Having a downtown arena would probably help make our downtown more interesting and it might spark increased development. But there is no guarantee that it would actually do that or anything else for that matter. However, given the time, effort and expense that have been the result of his desire to have Edmontonians pony up tax dollars for his pleasure dome, one might think that building a new arena downtown has the same value as the aqueducts that ensured the citizens of ancient Rome a regular water supply.

The latest development in this ongoing saga is the announcement of a proposed CRL that would provide tax dollars that could be used for the new arena. The first CRL plan was based on the arena providing increased tax revenues from the area surrounding the arena. This new CRL proposal is based on the idea that a new arena would revitalize the whole downtown and would perforce result in a much greater amount of tax revenue.

These revenues would be put into a separate pot and would be used to upgrade a number of areas in the downtown. On the face of it, it sounds like a good idea. However, it is worth remembering that those tax dollars will do nothing to improve street cleaning in your area, repair your sidewalks or anything else you might think needs doing on the part of the city.

It is also worth remembering that right now these are imaginary dollars that are based on a future that may or may not come to pass during the next 20 years. Another recession, or some unforeseen natural disaster could change all that. And if a downtown arena fails to produce an increase in the value of the properties in the downtown, we will be in for yet another whoops moment in the history of Edmonton.

If the downtown arena goes ahead on his terms, perhaps Mr. Katz can follow Ozymandias’ lead and write this on the side of the new arena. “My name is Daryl Katz, king of kings: look on my works ye, mighty, and despair!”