So Cap It

A story on the economic crisis hitting Vegas has a couple of points I'd challenge:

The first is that how this project goes so goes Vegas, either finish it or it goes bust. False dilemma - how about it is not finished and it turns out well.

In Seattle one of the most beautiful Churches is St. Joseph's on Capitol Hill. It was to be a twin towered neo gothic brick affair and the foundation was laid when the depression hit and the money to finish the plans dried up. Instead, the Jesuits used what money they had to finish the church in a new cheap technology of slip form continuous pour concrete, the price of which dropped, and stuck with just one tower. The thing is now an elegant alabaster beauty with a green copper roof. Blessed SAcrament in the U District lost a tower to the depression also... so, why not cap off what is in place in Vegas with what money is sunk so far, and perhaps even take advantage of what is done to make it all the more beautiful.

Some of the most beautiful apartment building in seattle where built by Anhalt who used bricks left over form the great seattle fire and depression priced wood products, of which there are about a dozen or so prized apartment buildings and homes. Loveless did something similar with his building across from the Harvard Exit theatre.

These are quality buildings made beautiful in spite of the depression (or perhaps because of the depression?) during the depression.

Another comment in the article is building inspectors found problems that cost money to fix. In a free market it would be insurers who were responsible for building inspection. Right no developers pass the cost of safety inspection off to taxpayers by making the government do the inspections, which leads to bribery and other corruption, something that would not happen in a free market.

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