Despite my initial objections, I think the gazebo is actually a nice addition to the park, aesthetically, but I still think it's use as a practical shelter is limited.
However, the recent addition of a brass placard which hosts the name of every individual who gave a dollar to the project is, simply, hideous.
This is not a plaque which holds the name of veterans, or war dead, but an eternal thank-you to donors who ponied up to make the gazebo possible.
Giving thanks to donors is appropriate, of course, in a speech, or in an opening-day printed program, in a mayoral proclamation or on a temporary banner. Yes, this is a time of quid pro quo naming rights, where millionaires who have earned fortunes by exploiting others give back to their communities, and to those they've exploited, with an gallery space,or a museum, or an educational building, or a performance venue, and expect to see their names in granite above the cornice. I'm quite sure that no one who contributed to the building of the gazebo expected to see their names immortalized in bronze on a plaque which seems designed to outlive the gazebo it commemorates.
If a commercial entity wanted to erect a sign of this proportion (compared to the structure it adjoins), it would surely be a zoning issue.
I can imagine this bronze monstrosity is the well-intentioned product of an over-enthusiastic scout troop, and that enthusiasm can be appreciated, and the gesture forgiven...if the plaque is taken down and erected at Scout headquarters.
Sure, let it sit for a season so that all who help to raise the gazebo can feel good about their contributions, but by all means, let's get rid of the sign by next summer so we can appreciate the gazebo itself.
And if a plaque is needed, how about something tasteful, and small, that can be attached to one of the pillars of the gazebo itself.
Let's remove it to remind ourselves that generosity and philanthropy should be rewards in and of themselves, and that immortal thanks are not necessary to reward good deeds. If anyone should recognize that, a scout should, because if a good deed every day were rewarded in this way, each scout would be carrying a backbreaking kit bag full of bronze.
And for those who will think that this complaint is out of proportion with the problem plaque, let's consider that it is the small details which make a city beautiful. So whether it's the preservation of shade trees on Main Street (and don't get me started on the destruction of mature trees right across Main Street from the gazebo), or the effort to keep center-city walls free from graffiti, or the fight to diminish the amount of open-lot parking space, it's the details that add up to the image we project of ourselves to the rest of the world.
7 comments:
This is hideous! If I were a donor, I would be upset that a portion of my donation was to buy this plaque. It certainly detracts from the beauty of this spot. The money would have been better spent to maintain this structure in the future.
Wow that really is way out of proportion. Hideous.
This plaque....or billboard is not appropriate. It does take away from what is a beautiful addition to the park. This sign is way to big, not pleasing to the eye and definately not needed. Does it meet sign requirements for our town? If a donation was made, listing the donors in a program, or the newspaper is all that is necessary. I am sure the donors did not want a billboard with their names listed. To have this huge, large sign is for sure an eye sore to the area. Move the sign and put it somewhere else!!!
Is Union Park aka South Green where the cannons face towards you as you wander around the park, real bad fengshuiway.
That is not a great welcome for Middletown, cannons aiming for you!
When I was a child our church published a weekly news letter that listed the donations that each parishioner gave the week before. My father refused to allow them to include our contribution and referred to the newsletter as " the scandal sheet." It's pathetic to me that these gazebo contributers would want their good work to be literally cast in bronze for all to see; a look at me gesture!
This "plaque" should be removed. It is hideously oversized and misguided. More importantly, the people who gave money surely did not want their names open to public view. They didn't know that the money they were donating would support a project that was soon to become a municipal bone of contention. The decision to put the "plaque" up looks, in retrospect, like an attempt to score points, to silence the various officials who opposed or raised questions about the gazebo siting and design.
Take the sign down. And give Design Review the power to adjudicate the fate of the gazebo.
I am under the impression that the city is supposed to approve these things. I would venture to say that they did not. Perhaps the plaque should go on the wall of the young man who took on this project so that he can be reminded of the good people who helped him reach his goal.
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