Feel like it was the media calling it a white elephant. I didn't pay attention though if anyone worth listening to suggested it at the time. And by 'media' I basically mean our homegrown mini-Murdoch, Stokes.

You get the politicians you deserve. The electorate doesn't think past next week, so the politicians don't need to.

Why the hell can't politicians think past next week?

Some of them can, that's why it got built even though it wouldn't be that much help with covid.

us peanut gallery but during covid my governor converted the main convention hall in the main city into an emergency room overflow type of area. Mainly curtains and beds with electric run ready for some med equipment. Basically it could take people infected who where not to bad so the hospitals could handle the bad stuff. It was not used (thanks I think in part do to other good decisions made by the state) and oh did we get the news articles complaining about that. Its like, Lucifer J Satan, its a good thing to not use and its good to have it ready. I mean our state was surrounded by poorly run states and we were not very far from using it with our emergency bed at height (which my state tracked and made available publically like a lot of other information).