For Immediate Release
August 10, 2006

Today's announced closure of the more than $20 million funding gap for the proposed convention center/hotel project is "smoke and mirrors," according to the organization LancasterFirst.Org, a citizens group opposed to the project.

Thomas Despard and Bruce L. Clark, authorized representatives of the group, responded that more than $15 million of this money is illusory. Specifically the group pointed to:

1) The $7 million in savings from the parking garage, now to be funded by Lancaster Newspapers, Inc., was never part of the original budget, and therefore can't be counted as reducing the deficit.

2) The $3 million pledged by the Historic Preservation Trust is raiding the money allocated to create an educational museum.

3) The $5.25 million in "value engineering" - which has been undertaken several times before - can only result in a substandard facility which will lack aesthestic and result in much higher operating and maintenance expenses.

"No matter how good the intentions of project supporters," said Thomas Despard, "it is time for all parties to recognize that this funding gap cannot be responsibly bridged, and that by joining together as a community we can pursue several worthier alternatives."