I sat out side the Zoning and Planning meeting Tuesday listening to articulate and impassioned pleas to save "The Guthrie".
I felt sad for Ralph Rapson who has lived to see most of the architectural gems he designed for his adopted home be torn down. Part of the problem with the current building beside the fact it does not fit with the Walker's and the City's plans(don't forgot the new ramp will be city owned)is that it's outward integrity has been altered so much as to not be recognizable to the building Rapson designed. So much of what was being attested to was a nostalgia for the Guthrie of peoples memories rather than the actual building today. Many people referred to its original design that was sacrificed to expand the lobby area and correlate to the new Conservatory in the Sculpture Garden. In that respect I think it succeeded though surely I'm in a minority. It is understandable that people would protest. We, as a City, methodically have torn down much of our history. What is left is pretty prime but it's always the losses in our lives we tend to invest with the greatest value. Larry Millett has spawned a cottage industry compiling historic photos. Not one demolition can take place without a perfunctury reference to the Metropolitan Building though fewer alive today recall it. I don't and it wasn't torn down til I was way into my teens. I believe this colors every subsequent decision we have, do and will make when it comes to Historic Preservation. Having torn down the best, having lost our past we will, at all costs, retain what we have however marginal, unutilizable or financially impratical it might be. Though I may not remember the Met I remember quite a bit. I understand. We are losing part of our culture if we destroy the Guthrie. If this is so then I ask myself why 77% of the City population care if the Twins leave. In St.Paul the figure rises to 88%. Aren't the Twins part of our culture? There were people on Tueday who testified that the Guthrie Theatre put Minneapolis on the cultural map. Well, not that I necessarily think this is a good thing but I would be willing to wager that more people have heard of the Twins than the Guthrie Theatre and that if it were not for this baseball team coming here in '61, and the other franchises that were part of their league expansions, some people in this country might not even know where Minnesota is, much less the Guthrie Theatre. When the wrecking ball takes down the Guthrie, and it will, there will still be an institution called the Tyrone Guthrie Theatre Company in town whereas when our baseball team leaves or is contracted out of existence we will have lost an institution. And when the football team leaves, which they will, we will have a big ugly building which unfortunately resembles all too well its original design, acting as a venue for tractor pulls. I bet not one person will step up to a microphone to call for it being saved That is what we are looking at here. And to blithely shrug it off as nothing to get exercised over is beyond my comprehension. Believe me, the children of the next generation and the next will wonder how a community could invest so much energy in saving the theatre building while letting a MLB team go. When we talk about spending $10 million or even $20 or $25 million on a stadium we must look at the future. Is there anyone with enough vision to see that the stadium we build today, if we do it correctly, will be an asset on the books 75 years from now. Factor it out. What's the real cost per person, per year? I grew up in this city. Born in '49. I read every Sport Magazine bio I could get my hands on. I was no great athlete mind you. I read about Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, Yogi Berra. All the Yankees and more from other teams. Of course my favorite team was the Yankees. They were the best. Though our Millers were a farm club for Boston and then San Francisco I never quite followed them but I can tell you a highlight for me was watching Willie Mays hit one out the Met on a gift fastball down the center of the plate in the ninth inning. It's what we paid our money to see. It was why we were there. Yeah, the Millers were good and the American Association was just short of the big leagues but it was the BIGS that everyone wanted and followed in the daily box scores. I think contraction stinks and I'm angry at cowardly politicians who failed to lead. I think leadership is often more about leaders having the wisdom to see the folly of those who've elected them and saying, "No, you're wrong on this one." We will miss this team. It will cost us. We will be a harder sell to conventioneers. As it is I think the Dome hurts in that respect. Baseball was meant to be played outdoors. It will be a void in our local culture, much more I suspect than an outdated theatre with cramped seating and limited possibilities, and we will not get one back easily if at all. Tim Connolly DT Resident Longtime Baseball fan who pretty much quit going when the team went under the roof. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Make a great connection at Yahoo! Personals. http://personals.yahoo.com _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest option, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
