Now we see why The Columbian has been so rabid about spending taxpayer dollars in downtown redevelopment!

Yup... this is what it's all about.

As I've stated all along, the Columbian has been so hot for downtown redevelopment... because THEY MATERIALLY AND ACTUALLY WILL BENEFIT FROM THE TAXDOLLARS THE CITY HAS SPENT.

Thus, their rabid cheerleading for an idiotic, unnecessary and unneeded light rail system, their foaming at the mouth insistence at hanging the taxpayers out to dry on a taxpayer backed private entity known as the "convention center-hotel."

And so on... and so on.... and so on.

Now, don't get me wrong. I don't have any problem with downtown redevelopment per se'. But I have a MAJOR problem when that redevelopment involves tens of millions of taxpayer dollars... all without bothering to ask us, while, in fact, suing us to keep our mouth's shut.





Publisher announces $30 million project

Thursday, September 8, 2005
By JULIA ANDERSON, Columbian staff writer

Building for the future

In what could be the start of a new wave of downtown Vancouver development, Columbian Publisher Scott Campbell unveiled plans Wednesday for a $30 million newspaper office building south of Esther Short Park.

Construction of the six-story, 118,000-square-foot building is expected to get started by spring, with completion in August 2007. The project's master plan, involving 6.3 acres, also calls for construction of an eight-story parking-condominium building on Esther Street south of the office project and construction of a newspaper production facility on the southwest corner of Esther and Sixth streets, both within the next five to 10 years.

Campbell said the condo project could come along sooner if an outside developer shows interest.

The 115-year-old newspaper employs 360 people at its current location, 701 W. Eighth St., where it has operated since the 1950s. The Campbell family has owned the newspaper since 1921, when Scott Campbell's grandfather, Herbert J. Campbell, bought the business.

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