Why is the Ford dealership I used to work at still closed??

Ford is paying big money to keep a Ford dealership site away from a dealer group. The group wants to put an import dealership on that site. But Ford pay almost $50,000 a month to keep them out. The dealership has been closed for two and a half years now. By the time the site control runs out on Ford...they will have paid out over $2,000,000. (Mar 2009) I can think of a few Ford employees, that lost their jobs, that could sure use that money. The building is just a shell now. Everything was sold off. Release the hold Ford!!!