" "Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus." "

" 1) Who is Nancy Edstrom? (sister of John Edstrom and sister-in-law of Fran Edstrom, staunch supporters of the Wilkie and opponents of the city on most things.) 2) "Meals will catered." Were not they always catered? 3) Who will pay for students attending Wilkie? (Transportation and admitance) 4) Who is the bonded general contractor that will supervise the volunteer labor? 5) Why should taxpayers pay for maintenance? 6) "Our paddleboat board" will have people with "past experience on the Wilkie." Is that comforting? 7) Is "striving for collaboration" a business plan? 8) What are planned monthly revenues and expenses? "

" The city council will stick to its guns and this thing will die. Enough of this crap... Either these folks need to pony up $500,000 on Monday, or tear that puppy down! "

" These are wonderful ideas and I applaud Nancy for giving them voice. However, I question why, in all the time the Wilkie was here, these things were never done before now. I believe it is too little, too late. I am on record as being no fan of the Wilkie, but if this kind of creative thinking had happened fifteen years ago, we very well might have not had this problem now. "

" Dont tell me how corrupt the city hall is( heard it already), tell me HOW this is going to work. Who are the "major donors" ? WHO is going to do the Elevator? Who is going to pay for the $10k/yr maintenance for the elevator? $60k to free up that valuable space? GOOD INVESTMENT, put something there that will DRAW people to it, not tax dollars. BTW, this article isnt a plan, it's a dream. "

" Your arguments are warped. Your vision is destructive and you try to disguise it as forward thinking in favor of what...a beer and burger joint...or a Tee shirt shop? We have yet to see the City's plan other than to spend $60,000 of taxpayer dollars to tear it down. The Wilkie volunteers have a plan and they are essentially $72,000 ahead of the mayor and city council -- WITHOUT using taxpayer dollars! The Wilkie was a good idea then and can be a great idea again! Remember when Winona tore down a lot of wonderful, historic buildings? We were lucky to save the court house! Yep, Winona should learn from its past mistakes. We need to save the Wilkie and make it better than ever. If the mayor and city council won't help, they should get the hell out of the way! "

" Excellent! Too bad the mayor, Breza and other city council members and naysayers don't have a little foresight, vision and enthusiam. I guess they're too busy with their back-room double-dealing.... "

" Let's show the mayor and council and all those cynical cranky folks out there that we can do it. The Wilkie can be a treasure for Winona once again! To he__ with the naysayers! "

" Hey, Natives can conceive and even look forward to a time when the rotting hulk is gone from the levee. It was a bad idea before and it is a bad idea now. Your unrealistic, and financially devastating proposal will lock Winona into being a third rate city forever. Marking us as a city without vision and a future. I remember when they were building the current structure, promises and dreams like are laid out here were made and never kept. This would be no different. Those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it. I hope Winona can learn something. "