Cobo Hall expansion reportedly cleared, paving way for NAIAS to stay in Motor City
by Jeremy Korzeniewski on Jul 29th 2009 at 9:28AM 
It's been a long road with more than its fair share of protracted negotiations and questionable decisions along the way, but the Detroit City Council has finally cleared the path for Cobo Hall to get the much-needed expansion, repairs and ongoing maintenance it's deserved for years. By choosing not to vote on the plan at all, the Council will allow Cobo Hall to be turned over on lease to a regional authority that will oversee the building's day-to-day operations. Says Council President Kenneth Cockrel Jr.:
I know this has been an emotional issue and a controversial issue. But it's real simple: We don't have the money to do this on our own. This thing is a go, and it's something they should be happy about. It's going to allow us to re-position Cobo to make it competitive, to secure the (North American International) Auto Show and attract other kinds of convention business.With this potential roadblock out of the way, it now seems likely that the North American International Auto Show will indeed stay in the Detroit – assuming, of course, that the world's collection of automakers is willing to continue making the annual trek to the Motor City in January.
[Source: Detroit News]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Dude 9:59AM (7/29/2009)
Why expand? Nobody's coming to Detroit anymore.
Plus, I don't want my tax dollars going to GM so it can waste money on Auto shows. Just takes pictures and video of the cars and upload it to the GM website. Once GM has paid back the US taxpayers (i.e. those who voted for McCain), they can go back to running themselves into the ground. Again.
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ebleyes 10:09AM (7/29/2009)
Being a tax payer I rather my money goes to GM and other manufacturers than going to AIG or Goldman Sachs, but since you are delusional dude who thinks he is immune to the decline of American manufacturing base and blinded by the Obama Derangement Syndrome I think I'm wasting my time by replying to you.
Dude 10:22AM (7/29/2009)
As a taxpayer, I don't want it going to anyone! They should all have been forced into Chapter 11.
ODS? No. That would mean my opinion of him was irrational. It's quite rational. Everything he's touched has come crashing down. Even his teleprompter.
Manufacturing. Well, if you count the addition of new BMW, Mercedes, Hyundai, KIA, Nissan, Toyota, Honda, and Volkswagen plants built in the last 15 years, that's a lot of growth in manufacturing capacity.
Brian 10:52AM (7/29/2009)
Dude, did you know the Blue states subsidize the Red states.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A19566-2005Jan18.html
Who is a taxpayer again?
ebleyes 11:07AM (7/29/2009)
In this economic environment I don't think GM, Chrysler or even Ford would have survived a chapter 11 without government support, but on this we can agree to disagree.
The manufacturing base has shrunk significantly in the past 40 years and the additions of these plants is only to gain foothold in the American market, but once it becomes economically difficult to stay here they will move to a cheaper place like every smart manufacturing company.
Mentioning teleprompters is a clear sign ODS by the way.
DayShifter 10:05AM (7/29/2009)
I get the feeling it's going to continue to lose money and relevancy... but that's just me.
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MeiSooHaityu 10:04AM (7/29/2009)
Glad to see the city council finnally coming to it's senses. Before, It was all about greed and control for them, and not about the residents or the well being for the city.
It amazed me they WERE willing to let the show leave and the convention center fall apart, just to keep outside help out.
I'm glad the show is staying, now all we need is for everyone on the council to get voted out and put some people in control that have the cities well being in mind instead of their personal greed.
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DayShifter 12:11PM (7/29/2009)
Ummmm, something tells me you didn't really pay attention to the first deal. Even though I think the city council is joke, that first deal they had was just shady.
Tagg 2:56PM (7/29/2009)
Well, Monica Conyers didn't get voted out. She's just going to jail because she accepted millions in bribes. That's why she was against the original plan, she want the DADA to pay her.
DayShifter 6:02PM (7/29/2009)
@Tagg,
It's obvious at least half the city council is crooked, but don't get the facts twisted. They didn't have to vote her out, they already made a unanimous request for her to step down. And the first deal was blocked because it was a sucker deal, it was voted down 5-4.... That's why the governor made a revised version, the revision that should have been proposed in the first place, which passed without issue.
steve-o 10:05AM (7/29/2009)
BLAME KWAME!
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sk 10:50AM (7/29/2009)
No, he was always for the renovation. Blame goes to all the corrupt council members such as Monica Conyers.
Soccer Mom 10:07AM (7/29/2009)
Expanding floor space in a dying city. What a novel idea!
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mapoftazifosho 10:38AM (7/29/2009)
I live in the Metro Detroit area and I have to agree with this...really very silly.
UH2L 11:22AM (7/29/2009)
One could argue that we are a dying country. Does that mean we abandon it and don't invest in it? We help people affected by earthquakes and hurricanes whenever they're affected. Perhaps some gratitude should be shown when economically depressed cities need help. After all, our country would not be anywhere close to where it is today if it were not for the industrial base of the Midwest.
Soccer Mom 12:07PM (7/29/2009)
Of course not! We should expand the floor space of the building even though we know in advance that in its current state it has excessive capacity and demand will only dwindle with time. We must rebuild areas affected by floods knowing that they will be underwater in 6 months from now. We must build $300-million bridges knowing that they will be used by one or two cars a year. This type of work will keep us employed and our economy going! Yeah!
DayShifter 12:15PM (7/29/2009)
"We must rebuild areas affected by floods knowing that they will be underwater in 6 months from now. We must build $300-million bridges knowing that they will be used by one or two cars a year. This type of work will keep us employed and our economy going! Yeah!"
Disillusioned or misinformed, just pick one!!
psu48187 2:28PM (7/29/2009)
And there in lies the issue with urban sprawl....
It sucks so why bother fixing what we obviously know is wrong, and instead build further and further out. Meaning we have to dump a ton of money into brand new infrastructure, just so people can have nice shiny new things. Yeah the auto show would have been quite the draw out in Novi. You don't see the Chicago auto show out at the Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont or LA out in Anaheim do ya?
The Metro Detroit area as a whole is full of leaders that cannot and will not look at the big picture. What's bad for Detroit is often viewed as what's good for Macomb and Oakland County. The problem with that mentality is that outsiders don't look at it that way, they hear Detroit and think of the region as a whole. If Detroit were to literally be erased tomorrow, do you really think anyone would have use for that region at all?
One other thing. Instead of locals whining and complaining about how much Detroit sucks, I would think it would be within their best interest to prop up the cities image.
DayShifter 4:45PM (7/29/2009)
@psu48187
That's the problem, the locals you're referring to, aren't local, they're usually someone that lives outside Detroit, but for whatever bias reason, has no interest in Detroit, don't come to Detroit, don't care about anyone living in Detroit, and just looking for any reason to put it down.
It's funny, if you come to any of the events Detroit still holds downtown, and you see thousands of people from surrounding cities, obviously having a good time, you'll have to ask yourself "I thought Detroit sucked"....
Hell, we just had a boat race, I'm probably a mile away, the motors so powerful and loud you can hear it like it's in your back yard..... not to mention the same day F-18's doing maneuvers about 700 ft. above your freaking roof. Not sure about you, but that stuff is cool to me.... Detroit, has a lot to offer, but no one can see any possibilities if all that outsiders do is highlight the negative.
JZeke 11:09AM (7/29/2009)
Its too damn cold in the D to hold a car show! Last time I went in 2005 it started snowing on the last press day and didn't stop til February.
When I went to the Anaheim show later that year (October) they were giving test drives of the Phaeton, and some other cars... and it was a perfect 75 degrees.
The whole "its close to the automakers HQs" doesn't sway me either. Tokyo isn't where Japan's big companies are headquartered, Frankfurt isn't Stuttgart, or Munich, and while Paris might have PSA's legal and admin, its industrial facilities are close the German border.
So again, why is having the show remotely relevant anymore?
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