These two subjects may seem like strange bedfellows. Read why I think they just may be connected...
Newport Hole in the Ground Possibilities
YMCA type facility with a pool, gym, an arcade, and a concert and productions stage.
The YMCA facility is tied to fixing the drug problem.
Drug Problems (Three basic levels)
Current users:
Potential users, due to their environment:
Kids who have not even considered drugs yet:
Hotel with rental offices inside the lobby. Revenue generator!
How to make these businesses a possibility.
There are a plethora of possibilities.
Most importantly, Newport MUST make it easy for this to happen.
If Newport truly wants to thrive, grow and become more affordable, this is the mindset it needs to take. If things continue to be done the way things have always been done, then the town is destined to fail. If the thought process is that of “we’ve already tried that and it didn’t work,” or, “we’ve always done it that way so we’re not changing now,” then the town will fail.
Thomas Edison didn’t quit trying an idea just because it didn’t work. He tweaked it and changed it and revised his thought process until he invented the light bulb. NASA didn’t say, after their first rocket blew up, “well, rockets sure aren’t the way to get into space.” And JFK didn’t say, “Ask what your country can do for you, not what you can do for your country.” I’ll rephrase what he actually said. ‘Ask not what you can take from new companies; ask what they can provide for your community by being successful.’
Newport Hole in the Ground Possibilities
YMCA type facility with a pool, gym, an arcade, and a concert and productions stage.
- The pool will be of the size to allow for lap swim and swim teams from the High Schools to use for meets and practice.
- The gym will be geared toward older residents, using Nautilus style machines and free weights. There will be classes for spinning, yoga, tai chi, etc.
- The arcade will be “old school” with pinball type games that don’t mirror gambling.
- The concert stage will be the upper level and be able to accommodate future crowd sizes, 750 seats minimum.
The YMCA facility is tied to fixing the drug problem.
Drug Problems (Three basic levels)
Current users:
- These people require a different kind of intervention than those who are just in line to fall into this category.
- Professional treatment centers are needed over correctional facilities.
- Those in this group need extreme supervision to monitor against criminal activity. Unless they are a non-using Dealer their crimes tend to be “needs based” to help support their addiction.
Potential users, due to their environment:
- There may be numerous reasons kids in this category fall into drug abuse. However, a big reason is the lack of things for them to be involved in. This is where the YMCA facility will come into play. It will offer a multitude of opportunities for them and will be geared toward their financial ability to attend, with no-one ever being denied.
- Another reason is that they live in a household that uses drugs on a daily basis. This is where the Professional Treatment Centers come in. Getting the adults clean and then making sure they are seriously monitored so that they stay off the drugs will help insure these kids are saved.
Kids who have not even considered drugs yet:
- This should be the easiest group to help prevail. They will walk into a town life that offers numerous opportunities to have fun, and to serve their community.
- Serving their community is huge here. Showing how rewarding it is to be a giver rather than a taker will set the moral compass in these kids that is so drastically needed in this day and age.
Hotel with rental offices inside the lobby. Revenue generator!
- Room rates will be geared toward what current conditions dictate. $99.00 or less will be an ideal starting point. This will make it affordable for most out of state families to visit and stay in Newport.
- The lobby will be large enough to accommodate numerous professional offices. Offices will be placed to the rear of the lobby so that people will have to traverse the lobby to get to the offices. This affords more visibility to the hotel and shows off what it has to offer.
- The Hotel will be directly above a two tier parking garage.
- The Hotel will be attached to the side of the YMCA facility with walk-through access.
How to make these businesses a possibility.
There are a plethora of possibilities.
- Get a YMCA interested in setting up shop in Newport.
- Get a Hotel chain interested in the idea.
- Solicit private entrepreneurs to invest in Newport.
- There will be more options that come forward.
Most importantly, Newport MUST make it easy for this to happen.
- There will need to be complete open minded cooperation with whatever entity decides this is worthwhile.
- Taxes will need to be waived for five years.
- The town did not have taxes from this business before it came to Newport, so it can continue to not have taxes while the business becomes sustainable.
- In order for a business to take this big of a chance they will need this offer.
- Permits will need to be waived for any project designed to ‘fill the hole.’
If Newport truly wants to thrive, grow and become more affordable, this is the mindset it needs to take. If things continue to be done the way things have always been done, then the town is destined to fail. If the thought process is that of “we’ve already tried that and it didn’t work,” or, “we’ve always done it that way so we’re not changing now,” then the town will fail.
Thomas Edison didn’t quit trying an idea just because it didn’t work. He tweaked it and changed it and revised his thought process until he invented the light bulb. NASA didn’t say, after their first rocket blew up, “well, rockets sure aren’t the way to get into space.” And JFK didn’t say, “Ask what your country can do for you, not what you can do for your country.” I’ll rephrase what he actually said. ‘Ask not what you can take from new companies; ask what they can provide for your community by being successful.’