I found this old article Construction Trades Muscle Pols On Convention Center by Roldo Bartimole while searching for the history of the convention center biznas in CC. 

But, it has no date… Can you guys at CoolCleveland add dates to these things in future so we have some idea when they were published, please? I find myself relying on the PeeDee for date ranges on CC articles. Just a thought…

It was a good meeting today. I was surprised at the turnout, but people are really busy out there working multiple jobs to make a living. Including me… Where was Roldo?

By the way, an interview with Hunter Morrison might shed some light on this debacle. No one stepped up to answer my question about the abandonment of the current publicly owned convention center. Oh yeah, and does the IX Center get to become like Richfield Coliseum? A bird sanctuary. Afterward, Hunter told me that the building (the current center) is underground and therefore requires regular pumping to keep it from becoming synonymous with the Lake. So if we don’t use it, we will still have to keep up the pumping forever – that’s a drain on city coffers (excuse the pun). He also said that when the business of siting the convention center on Huron went south, the federal building took the site. The other plan was to build it at the existing building on the Mall using the current facility as a base. It is noted here in this CPC document: Convention Center Resolution from 2003.

Like uh, what’s wrong with this plan that reuses and builds upon the Burnham Plan and the existing Convention Center?

Too far from Tower City to help Al and Sam?

See the whole biznas here: Convention Center on the Mall Plan.

Do we have any data on cities where these facilities are public private partnerships? Or simply privately held altogether?

Jeff says all the big gathering spaces in Boston are privately held such as Fenway Park. Why must the public pay to line some rich guy’s pockets? If this is such a good idea, why doesn't the Clinic invest in it?  Well, says Denise D of Save Our Land Blog who used to work for the Cleveland Clinic, The Clinic already did an analysis and decided it was a bad idea. They didn't just have Hagan and his Buddy Dimora making paybacks to Ratner and  Miller, but they actually hired Coopers Lybrand (now Price Waterhouse Coopers) to do a feasibility study and cost analysis. What did they discover and why didn't they do this already? It would have been a white elephant. Now it might just be a white elephant that is paid for by the people of Cleveland. Sure these guys will promote it as long as they don't have to pay for it.  Has Toby Cosgrove looked in the file drawer?  According to this article in the PD earlier this year, Medical Mart maybe not. We know Cosgrove Believe's in Cleveland.

Maybe he believe's he can have it without paying for it.

But will it work?  How do doctors and hospitals buy what they need?  Can we ask someone like maybe the purchasing office at CCF or UH? Do they use the internet or do they travel to  medical conventions where medical  equipment manufacturers set up in the hallways outside the conferences? I know a guy who used to sell Holter Monitors to cardiologists -- he went to their offices. Is this what doctors do with their time off -- go shopping? Been in the doc's office lately? Have you seen the phamaceutical reps hovering around the waiting rooms? I can see it now, docs in droves coming to Cleveland to learn about the new tweak on Cialis or the latest surgical glove. Is this just another insurance/gambling scam -- betting on increasing illness? I sure don't know, but I do know that the CCF is a well to do institution that does not pay tax to the county according to this PolicyMatters Ohio Study. But that's not what the County Auditor's office reports. So I am confused about all of this. Is it a good idea? If it is, then why isn't Chris Kennedy just asking for a hunk of the Midtown Corridor on which to construct said medmart? God klnows there is plenty of moribund land along Euclid near the Clinic. With the Euclid Corridor finished, the folks from UH and Huron Hospital could have lunch there, too if they wanted to hang out in the med ical mall.

Could it be that as someone suggested today, that Christopher George Kennedy's ties to Tim Hagan are in play here?

Hmmm… I would love to know whatever you might add to this collection of odd coincidences. And correct me where I’m heading off the trail, but it seems about as crooked and meandering as the Cuyahoga to me so far.