[Winona Online Democracy]
Regarding outdoor seating at the Courthouse: on the plans drawn by Winona
Nursery, there is an "18-inch seating wall (by others)" on the Third Street
side of the planting of grasses out from the front door. Seating walls
adjacent to the door were
not to be included
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bob Sebo" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "john finn" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "'E Democracy'" <[email protected]>
Sent: Sunday, January 29, 2006 7:04 PM
Subject: Re: [Winona] chairs
[Winona Online Democracy]
I really thought that the county got some kind of recompense for the chair
event from the architect or a contractor, but I don't recall for sure.
What I'd like to point out is John's remarkable comment about these
events.
Having not seen the chairs in question, I don't have an opinion on
whether
they seriously clashed with the rest of the courthouse furnishings. But
I'm
glad that the building was restored and that a professional architect was
hired to oversee things even if he (or someone else?) botched that aspect
of
the project.
Mr. Finn saw a mistake made when working towards an honorable goal. He
was
glad the goal was worked towards despite the misstep.
I think we all need to adopt a similar attitude towards many of our
disagreements. We forget that we fundamentally do agree about some
things,
e.g. quality education is good. I am among those who is too willing to
focus on my own perceptions of the shortcomings of others' positions,
rather
than fostering a civilized and productive discussion.
By, the by, John also wrote:
Speaking of Courthouse seating: Has anyone noticed that there's no park
benches located on the newly landscaped lawns? ( There is a picnic table
back behind the air conditioning shed that might be the smokers lounge. )
This could be deliberate rather than an oversight in order to discourage
vagrants from loitering there. Or maybe not having outdoor benches is
more
historically accurate. I suspect that Winona's collective memory of the
failed Third Street pedestrian mall isn't compatible with the notion that
anyone would want to spend any idle time outdoors in the downtown area.
There is a stone slab at the Courthouse Annex entrance that is meant to
be
a
bench. And it provides a view of the Courthouse. Other than that, there's
nothing in the vicinity of the Courthouse that provides the kind of
overall
ambience that our "crown jewel" of historical buildings needs to fulfill
its
potential as a tourist attraction.
Hear, hear...we need to think more of our historic downtown as one place,
not a series of isolated locations with space in between. Of course
landscaping et al costs money, too, and requires ongoing maintenance. If
we
get the half-cent sales tax passed and move 90% of the tracks out of the
levee area that would help, too.
Bob Sebo
Winona
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