Common sense would say why not just reshingle the older ones, and give them a fresh coat of paint. They have served the city well for eighty years, and still are eager to serve. However, the metal replacements have been put into the schedule years ago, and the bureaucratic way is to let the older ones decay until they're replaced with the scheduled new ones.
Somehow I suspect that the replacements, when they finally do appear, will not last a fraction as long.
Students of the blog know that years ago I was very critical of Pawlowski and his succession of park directors, which were all of the same mold (Penn State recreation program) and hired by the same city manager. Had the FBI's menu been longer, they might have looked into some of those decisions and contracts.
I actually have a rapport with the current park director, and have not yet totally burned all the bridges with the new mayor. However, it is my avocation to champion for the traditional park system and the WPA. To that end, I will not compromise the mission with polite cordiality here on the blog.
above reprinted from June of 2022
ADDENDUM APRIL 19, 2023: Since the above post was written less than a year ago, there's yet another new park director, but I'm hoping to maintain a channel to that office. However, as always, my mission remains the parks, not polite cordiality.
While I'm still advocating that the current picnic pavilions be saved, another important park feature has just been discarded. Before the expensive (10k each) PlayWorld novelty exercise kiosks were installed, the park had old school exercise stations. A classmate of mine from the mid 1960's would finish his daily walk with pull-ups. While these time proven exercise stations were in good condition, this park system apparently still prefers gimmicks from catalogs.
Last, but not least, this year's duckling forecast... You may have noticed very few ducks on the Rose Garden side of the park, but there are a few pairs. Unfortunately, their propagation chances again look slim. The park department did not mow the creek bank on the first cutting, and the poison hemlock is already thriving. If they cut down it before the ducks hatch, as they have for the last four years, once again no ducklings will survive to swim the ponds. The window for the bank cutting has closed, and they must now wait until after the ducklings are hatched and on their own.
Everything is all about downtown freaking niz project, no more about preserving our parks.
ReplyDeleteI have often wondered about the ducks. There was also a beautiful, glorious white swan on the small lake (Lake Muhlenberg?) for a couple of years recently who is no longer around. But the ducks in this area were once healthy, prolific and content. I remember happily having to stop my vehicle to let lines of ducks cross the roadway from Muhlenberg's property into the Cedar Park area. Wonderful events of nature are not seen anymore around these areas, at least almost never. If humans are responsible, as usually is the case, the injustice should be corrected appropriately.
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