Editor:

The headline was ominous. “Public hearing will help determine fate of building.”

The “Building,” of course, is South Portland’s much maligned, adored, or simply ignored old State Armory building, depending upon your age, occupation, or IQ. 

But the sorry saga of how the city came to acquire this monstrosity in the first place should be mandatory reading for anyone contemplating a run for a seat in that august chamber. While many an anxious taxpayer worries about where the next dollar is coming from, the pro-city hall crowd tests the waters yet again with their contentious leaps of illogic such as, “We know it was a mistake, but now we’re married to it,” the understated premise being “so now we have to pour millions into this big black hole to redeem ourselves in the eyes of our constituents.

Don’t bother. We’ll take your word for it.

Having had two previous opportunities to acquire the building in decades past, without a purchase, the building in question sat idle for years. Then, when the oldest, continuously active children’s theatre group in the U.S., the widely known and loved Children’s Theatre of Maine, with cash in hand, showed an interest in it, and was about to purchase and develop it into their first and only permanent home, the long ignored relic suddenly became a gem that had to be rescued from the arms of babes and polished as an ancestral icon.

So, out of the darkness did not appear shepherds following yonder stars, but four dismal members of the city council, who had decided, for all 24,000 of us, that we desperately needed that time-honored space. Shamelessly, and without regard to the plight of the children, or the positive energy and attention such a prestigious theatre (supported, frequented and touted in its meager beginnings by the Hollywood actress, Bette Davis) they out-bid the youthful theatre kid’s once-in-a-lifetime chance for a permanent home. Think snatching candy from a baby.

This was not a proud moment.

Had the city landed this prestigious, non-profit incubator of young and emerging theatrical talent, many of whom have, over the years, gone on to promising professional careers, it would have been a colossal coup and impressive point of community pride for South Portland. Their non-profit status may have produced little, if any, income to the city, but that amount is exactly what the city is collecting from it now.

Instead, we are still haggling over what to do with the monstrosity in question, and where the money will come from to finance the cockamamie dreams of turning it into a bustling new city hall right before our eyes -— in the middle of the largest, busiest and noisiest perpetual traffic jam the city has ever seen.

If they really wanted to gauge public interest on this issue, which they obviously didn’t, they would have placed the question on the November ballot. 

They wisely chose, instead, a public hearing, so as not to confuse the voting public with copious relevant facts. It sounds more city council-ish. But, better yet, it serves their need to proceed as they please since, statistically speaking, no one attends public hearings except for those who have something to gain; in this case, the right to do as they please.

 So, as much as we do own it now, and since a large portion of the city’s electorate apparently goes to bed early, it would not surprise me if your tax rate silently moves up a tad and the big spenders get their way. Again.

Robert M. Lord

South Portland