The New York Yankees had the “House that Ruth Built” and scrapped it for the billion-dollar “House that George Built.” The Dallas Cowboys, not to be out done, have their billion-dollar “House that Jerry Built.”

This month, we formally introduced to Northwest Ohio the Lucas County Arena, a venue that cost one-tenth of what it cost to build the stadiums in the Bronx and in Texas, but is at the very least equal, and perhaps greater, in relative value to our community.

I’m calling it the House that We Built, and by “we” I am referring to virtually our entire community.

I want to thank my colleague, Commissioner Pete Gerken, for his leadership on a project that stretches back to before I was elected to my seat. Pete was one of the first to say this could be done when others said it couldn’t. He hammered out deals to help get it done, and this arena stands today in no small part because of his dedication and perseverance.

I also want to thank Commissioner Tina Skeldon Wozniak for her leadership in ensuring that our arena is a Leadership in Energy and Environment Design (LEED)-certified building, the first sports arena of such in the United States.

This sparkling, environmentally friendly jewel of a building is truly the people’s arena, a representative of who we are and what we can become, and it is my hope that the more than 20,000 local and regional residents who traveled Downtown last weekend to watch the Walleye take to the ice felt like they were heading to the House that They Built.

A union work force of about 1,200 men and women, many who live here in our community and were paid fair, prevailing wages they can raise their families on, constructed this arena from the ground up.

Fourteen percent of all construction contracts were awarded to minority contractors. About 13 percent of all hourly work, or about 50,000 hours of work, were completed by minority workers on this project.

As we move forward and begin to tackle other projects, we must see to it that more opportunities exist for our smaller, minority-owned companies and minority workers and that is something I will continue to fight for.

Local companies and unions also made this project financially feasible by purchasing suites at the arena, making an investment not only in this product but in the advancement of Toledo.

What we have built is impressive and truly an accomplishment many segments of our community can be proud of, but we also must realize that, as the great American poet Robert Frost wrote, “we as a community have miles to go before we sleep.”

There is no denying the crumbling of our roads, the depletion of our safety services and the failures of our schools are tied to the struggles of our shrinking middle class.

We need to rebuild our community’s base, and I say that this arena is only a success if, in some small way, it makes the lives of working families in our community a little better — not only through the paychecks already received, but by being able to attract and retain young people, attract businesses and jobs, strengthen our tax base and lure people back to the heart of the community in Downtown Toledo.

In this regard, I think, or at least I hope, we’ve taken a step in the right direction.

William James, a great American scholar, once said that human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives.

Here in Toledo, where the economy has spiraled downward for years, where thousands have fled and others have struggled, where “we can’t” has long trumped “we can,” government, labor and business came together and built something that will hopefully one day be mentioned as a factor in our community’s rebirth.

Here in Toledo, we overcame the obstacles, the naysayers and the doubters who said we couldn’t do the job.

Our positive, progressive mindset turned to action, and now we celebrate a venue that will allow fathers and sons to bond at Walleye games, perhaps bring transcendent artists like Bob Dylan back to Downtown Toledo, or enable Toledo to receive national acclaim by being the site of an NCAA women’s basketball tournament matchup.

We, the people of Lucas County, did all of this through the mindset we had, the labor we contributed, the resources we devoted and the partnerships we forged.

Please enjoy the “House that We Built.”

Ben Konop is a Lucas County Commissioner. E-mail him at BKonop@co.lucas.oh.us.

This entry was posted on Friday, October 23rd, 2009 at 12:00 am and is filed under Guest Column, Opinion.
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