The Road to Takanawa is paved with good intentions...
The LRPC which is the driving force behind plans to rebuild the Club is comprised of well-intentioned members who truly believe they are working in the best interests of the Club and its members. They may be right. And they certainly have put in the hours, as unpaid volunteers. But what is puzzling and of great concern is: Why are the voting members not being fully and fairly presented with the pros and cons of renovating vs. rebuilding so they can make an informed decision? Call it propaganda, manipulation, poor judgment, or whatever, it seems wrong,inappropriate but above all -- dangerous, maybe perilous. There is a case to be made for both options: The rebuild has great merit but also great risk as the stakes are so high and unforeseen consequences usually abound. If TAC were a privately owned club, a smart owner(s) would probably not risk, at this time,"killing the golden goose", not when the eggs are solid gold and multiplying. A rebuild may result in a more (maybe too) expensive member club.This would be most undesirable. So why the rush to rebuild? Perhaps a Shakespearian character flaw(s), or simply bad business judgment, fostered by the committee system (successful businesses are not run by committees). But then there may be true vision in a new club, now. And it may be the way to go. But certainly the clarion call for transparency and correctness seems to be going unheard. A little Virgilian "pietas" is markedly lacking.
posted by Unlock at 1:18 AM
11 Comments:
"(The LRPC is) comprised of well-intentioned members who truly believe they are working in the best interests of the Club and its members"
That's one opinion. Not necessarily one I'd agree with. Some fit the bill, others certainly don't. The Chairman has an ego Superman couldn't jump over.
I think it has got to the point that those driving this project are saying...'Don't confuse me facts...my mind is made up'.
The LRPC has put in so much time and human capital that they are unable to step back from the project for a minute, take a deep breath and ask...'Is this really the best option?'
The Charge of the Light Brigade is upon us -- but now the victims will be the members not the committee or Board
I for one want to see some solid research on where the revenue might go with the move to Takanawa.
For all the high-priced help, how many member surveys have been done on F&B forecasting for the temporary site??
The F&B Director has figures that justify the the move. I think he made them up.
If the BOG and LRPC have taken 7-8 years to investigate and evaluate the options, why the driving force to ram through the final decision in 6 months? It seems less time and care is is being taken with concrete actions than was spent conceptualizing the entire redevelopment project to date. Maybe the LRPC should stick to conceptual work vs. structuring the action plans and contracts to rebuild the club's facilities.
There is no way to please 100% of the people 100% of the time, but over the last 6 months, the LRPC and by extension, the BOG, and management have decided to race through the most critical decisions that will have permanent effects, in record time. By doing so they are putting the entire membership and financial viablity of the Club at risk.
The members should be surveyed as to not only what the new club should be, but also how likely they are to use the club at an offsite location (i.e. Takanawa). If vacating the current property to shorten the construction time is likely to lead to decimating the operations, an alternative plan must be developed & presented.
If TAC ceases to be a vital part of the members' lives during the redevelopment project, regardless of what approach is taken, (stay on site & build in phases or move off-site), it is unlikely to ever recover in terms of its reputation, its usefulness, its membership numbers, its viablity, finacial soundness, etc. . If the membership and operations are to be decimated by forcing a move to Takanawa, let's just bite the bullet & save us all a lot of time, energy and money and close the doors now.
It seems the only winner will be the redevelopment partner, who is likely to end up owning the prime real estate TAC has invested in by luring the TAC operation to an undesirable location and driving the Club into bankruptcy.
The Road to Takanawa is paved with good intentions...
And a lot of stupidity and naivete!!
The road to takanawa is aved with good intentions... but so is the road to hell.
But at least in hell...one is held accountable.
As I understand the article of association, both the Board and the Management are indemnified by the club for everything....
All the more reason that a mere 301 people do not decide the fate of the club.
With all the negative ramblings people are making on this web site, has anyone actually been to have a look at the site in Takenawa?
If so, what is it like?
Yes, many have. It is not easy to find. The entrance to the car park is appalling and it is not close to anything really, despite the propaganda.
The site itself is not in question though, the decision to build a temporary club at huge expense and then knock it down after a little over two years is what many are finding insane.
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