Close Burlington's City Market?

When will Burlington leadership and the backers of this profitless venture admit failure and get out of the grocery business? This is a terrible testimony for an otherwise vibrant city.
+++++++++++++++

From a letter to The Dwinell Political Report 7/31/03:

"R. Spreeman, formerly of Colchester, now of Indiana:

On Sunday, July 27, the Free Press carried an interesting article on the Burlington Co-op, otherwise known as the City Market. I find this whole subject fascinating. To me, the City Market is a good example of something that was done the wrong way, and for the wrong reasons - an example of 'Progressive' government.

Despite the specifically-expressed choice of Burlington voters for a conventional supermarket to be opened downtown, the Progressives determined that they wanted the co-op to open a grocery store, rather than an evil (my term, not theirs) capitalist-run store. Voters be damned, the Progressive knew better!

That's the part I find scariest about the 'Progressives' (and other liberal types); they are sure they know best and the public should just let them make the decisions for us, be it in health care, schooling... even what kind of grocery store people shop at. Oh, they had their excuses, the proposal from Shaw's was too large or something, but you can't tell me a regular store could not have been built within the necessary constraints.

City Market has lost over $1,200 each and every day, on average, since it opened. Soon they will have to start repaying the principal on the government loans which helped build the store - an expense of an additional $425 per day. I wonder, are the Burlington Progressives as keen to play 'grocery store' now that the thing is a financial disaster? Doesn't 'Progressive' imply progress of some sort? Some progress - from no grocery store to one that is losing a fortune and which has not met the needs of the local shoppers. One person told me the place felt like a yuppie 'food boutique' to her; she immediately resumed shopping for her groceries at a conventional grocery store though it was further away."
++++++++