Nope. The failure that was "NewBo Evolve" is not going away quietly.

GO Cedar Rapids has gone belly-up after falling into $2.3 million dollars of debt after last summer's NewBo Evolve festival. But the city of Cedar Rapids continues to absolve itself from Evolve.

Cedar Rapids Mayor Brad Hart gave his State of The City address earlier this week, and naturally, questions about the festival came up. He said it was a risky partnership between the many vendors who continue to be unpaid, and GO Cedar Rapids, private entities that should not and will not be bailed out with taxpayer dollars by the city. "They were businesses and they took a business risk and I'm sorry for that", he told KCRG. Sounds a little harsh, but his goal now is to focus on repairing the damage the festival has already done to the city's reputation.

Hart said vendors have not come directly to him to request bail-out, which he implied is a sign of their understanding it was the responsibility of GO Cedar Rapids from the get-go.

Now that the city IS overseeing the organization of such events in the future, Hart stressed the need to make sure all ducks are in a row before moving forward with anything.

[Via KCRG]

 

 

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