Many years ago, I heard someone say,
One problem, among others, with white elephants is that once you build them, you then find you need to build bigger zoos to keep them in.
I was reminded of that quote today when former student/colleague/co-author John Henderson sent me this:
The city of Timmins finally closed its white elephant Shania Twain Centre. Had never heard of it myself, then again I can't imagine ever listening to a Shania Twain song. This, unusually informative bit, from Wikipedia:
Annual attendance for the Centre was originally projected at 50,000 but never reached above 15,000.[1] Annual subsidies to the center cost the city of Timmins $7 per resident, or $33.72 per centre visitor.
For more on the closing of the centre, see this:
A failed tourist attraction in Timmins is set to become the gold mine the city always hoped for.
The Shania Twain Centre permanently shut its doors Friday.
International gold miner Goldcorp will officially acquire the property in June. The company plans to demolish the structure to make it part of a massive open-pit gold mine.
City councillors decided several weeks ago the centre was too big a money pit to keep subsidizing....
The centre has racked up more than $1 million in operating deficits ...
Goldcorp, which will officially acquire the property June 28, plans to demolish the structure to make the gold-seeded land underneath part of a massive open-pit mine being developed adjacent to the town.
Recent media reports have suggested the centre cost as little as $3.7 million to build. But a May 2011 analysis by PKF Consulting Inc. in Toronto says the figure was actually about $10 million for all construction, including the building, site development and upgrades to the co-located gold-mine tour attraction.
The entire 65-acre site is to be razed, including the gold-mine tour facilities, and added to Vancouver-based Goldcorp's planned open pit.
Here's hoping local politicians everywhere use this as an example before committing zillions of taxpayer dollars to more white elephants.