Well folks, here we go again. We live in a city that is happy to tax you for any and every idea somebody comes up with. This time, it is a Taj Mahal of a building, otherwise known as the “New JACC.”
We as taxpayers spent oodles of our money on the roof for the current JACC as well as bringing the building up to useable condition. But somebody decided that they wanted something better. Does better make sense when our taxes are already high and living here costs so much more than other places? Does it make sense to make a palace when many people live in substandard housing? I think not.
Proponents of the new JACC are telling folks that a new hall is needed. But the high schools have their own auditoriums. Elizabeth Peratravich Hall is a fine venue for many kinds of activities. McPhetres Hall is used for theater events. Centennial Hall has been used for decades for a variety of productions. Do we need a new and expensive hall? I don’t think so.
Some people will tell you that the visitors from outside need a new JACC. But I beg to differ. I won some tickets to a local musical production during a summer not long ago. The production was to take place at Centennial Hall, but by the time I wanted to use the tickets a short time later, the show had folded. The production was aimed at tourists but guess what? Those tourists have free entertainment aboard their cruise ships. So, the show folded.
Let’s be happy with the JACC we have. If it needs something like a new floor, by all means put one in. But don’t tell me we need an Eiffel Tower of a new building. It just isn’t so.
Cathy Boutin,
Juneau
• My Turns and Letters to the Editor represent the view of the author, not the view of the Juneau Empire.