Fayetteville's Renaissance Horror

The city of Fayetteville has shelled out $3.5 million dollars and all they've got to show for it is a mosquito farm. With the current credit crunch and the price of gas it's really hard to be optimistic about the Renaissance project ever being completed. John Nock and his partners has built some good projects around Fayetteville. It's just a shame that all of that is going to be overshadowed by the Renaissance. Of course, this attitude doesn't help either.

But owners and developers John Nock and Richard Alexander maintain that when they have paid the last of the liquidated damages to the city, their obligation to the city is over. "In my opinion, we've complied with the contract, done everything we said we'd do, and we still intend to build the hotel," Alexander said.

So there! We've been told to take a hike! I wouldn't think that it would be a very good idea to rub salt in the wound particularly when Nock and Alexander have another development that needs to pass through city council. You wonder if this development is going to be a bigger eyesore than the Renaissance. This one is going to be at the entrance of Fayetteville, so it will be one of this first things visitors see. I would hope that the city council has learned a lesson here and makes sure that South Pass doesn't become like Aspen Ridge or Renaissance.
Nock and Alexander could make things better by realizing they do have an obligation to the city. They just can't let the citizens endure such an eye sore. The Renaissance may take years to build, but in the meantime they could do something with the site. Clean it up a bit, landscape it, put some grass down or even fill in the hole.