The Editor,
I read with much excitement that our Richmond Oval has made a " profit"!
Of course, such positive news makes one wish to do Olympic-calibre cartwheels and is more evidence that the ancient art of creative accounting is alive and well.
I, as a Richmond taxpayer/Oval shareholder, naively thought I would go and "kick the tires" and see how our communal investment portfolio is going first hand.
However, low and behold, upon inquiry, I found that my attempt at personal due diligence would cost me, at minimum, $16.
Yes, peering inside from the Oval's outside like a humble pleb is free of charge, as is viewing from a small "crowsnest" viewing area at the Oval's south end accessed from the main entrance area.
However, should you wish to simply walk the inside of the Oval, but not at all participate, the minimum is $16 for older adults.
On the one hand, such a cover charge to simply enter and peruse a publically-owned facility must be a gold medal winner on the global scale.
Or, more succintly, the Oval is nothing more than a taxpayer-subsidized "private club" and a white elephant monument to political and bureaucratic egos.
R.A. Hoegler
Richmond
