|
Comments:
Suzie - 2005-02-03 13:29:56 Besides, I've seen a jillion happy sledders in the park this past winter on the way home. Who determined that a bunch of playground equipment was needed? There aren't enough people/families in the park overall to justify this. Why buy something that will rarely be used by a very limited sector of the population instead of doing a small amount of repair to a venue that many people of all ages want to use?* * * * * * * * * * * * Suzie - 2005-02-03 13:35:02 Of course, much of the funds for those Riverside improvements are from grants. Like always, there's never enough funding. Riverside is a great park, but you're right - it is useable as is.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-02-03 13:40:23 I took a look at the Friends of the Freighthouse site but didn't see any info about whether they'd also applied for grants. Riverside Park is fine the way it is. No need to clutter it up. The Arboretum in Ann Arbor used to be a beautiful, wild park in the mid-80s. Now it's cluttered up with a bandshell, a bunch of intrusive memorial benches, plaques, you name it. The whole atmosphere is different. Smaller and more commercial. Tamed. I liked it before. * * * * * * * * * * * * Eric * - 2005-02-03 13:53:05 From reading the article it sounds like $87,000 worth of funding is available if $24,000 in matching funds can be raised. Elvisfest has already committed $5,000 meaning only $19,000 is required. It would be in the city's best interests to raise that money in order to get the $87,000. Besides, it's not like the $87,000 could be used towards the freighthouse. It's not a robbing Peter to Paul scenario. More importantly, I read that the wiring in the park is so fouled that the lights aren't turned on because of shorting. That's a safety issue. Safety should be a priority.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-02-03 14:01:22 Eric *, yes, I think you've parsed the financial situation correctly based on the article; those were my conclusions too. I would respectfully disagree on the need for lighting. Why? Because there's not a soul in Riverside park after sundown--no one you want to meet, anyways. And, from biking past every evening I can say that there is ample ambient light to illuminate the area from the bridge a few hundred feet in, and the shelter light is, if I remember right, always on. Seems wasteful to me to have the whole (empty) park lit up, night after night, for no reason at all.* * * * * * * * * * * * Suzie - 2005-02-03 14:23:39 Eric *, That's what I was getting at by mentioning the grant funding, but your explanation is much clearer/cleaner. Given that the grant was awarded, its funds cannot be switched to a different project. Yes, the Friends is likely to apply for grant funding and to then raise matching money. * * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-02-03 14:29:34 It's true that a specific grant cannot have its funds directed to a different project. I am glad the Friends have a grant in their sights. I hope it comes round in time for the springtime Farmers Markets. I don't want the farmers' incomes to suffer & for the market to dribble away. Suzie, might you know (you seem to know about this) if the Friends have a timetable for writing/applying/getting a grant?* * * * * * * * * * * * brett - 2005-02-03 17:11:41 the friends of the freighthouse have already put the grant process in motion, as i understand it, and are waiting to hear back from the state hist. preservation office. I think some improvement to the lighting in the park would be nice, possibly just to keep it lit slightly later than it is. I'm a big critic of light polution, though, so i would hope they take that into account if they are adding any new fixtures. I think your point above about there not being anyone in the park after dark that you'd want to meet is true, but i would think that would be a good argument to try and improve the safety of it so people do feel comfortable there. Next time you're riding by and see that the area by the tridge is 'well lit', i suggest you park your bike and walk slowly through the park to michigan avenue and back again, and you'll see the 'ambient lighting' is dim enough to make the whole place seem more than a little frightening. My wife and I virtually never walk through there after dark for this very reason. * * * * * * * * * * * * Anna - 2005-02-03 17:16:02Last time I visited the Ann Arbor area I took a walk in the Arb. I couldn't believe how ridiculous the band shell looked (and is!).* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-02-03 17:29:35 Brett: You are right: in the park proper (I've ridden through it in the dark several times) it's mighty dim; the ambient light is only around the bridge. Anna: that bandshell looks ridiculous. I think it's some project from one of the architecture classes. That spot was previously a peaceful, grassy little bowl with pines. Now they have the giant Dorito-on-stilts. Big improvement. * * * * * * * * * * * * Anna - 2005-02-04 10:28:43 I remember the old grassy little bowl -- it was my last dog's favorite place, especially the pile of railroad ties that housed little animals. I have lots of pictures of her there. I even spread her ashes there after she died. The area is now wood-chip covered, santitized with weird bandshell. Ugh. At least they haven't decided to turn the meadow behind it into a soccer field (yet).* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-02-04 10:30:18 That is a touching note about your dog. It was indeed a beautiful, peaceful wild spot, like a green gateway to the quiet prairie area. Ruined now. * * * * * * * * * * * * Anna - 2005-02-04 10:30:23 Oh, and you know the path that runs to the left of the peony garden down the hill to meet the carriage road? It used to just be a peaceful footpath. Now it's got steps and woodchips, and benches and little signs identifying the flowers and bushes and trees. Ugh.* * * * * * * * * * * * Anna - 2005-02-04 10:31:13 Er... the path is to the right of the peony garden if you're standing at the entrance to the Arb near the Ronald McDonald house looking toward the back where the woods start.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-02-04 10:32:42 Yes, I know just what you mean. And I don't like the benches plopped here and there in the Arb. They're intrusive and detract from the quiet wildness of the Arb. Plus they're ego boats, with their little plaques memorializing Tillinghast's "Poet's Walk" or what have you. Spare me.* * * * * * * * * * * * Anna - 2005-02-04 10:33:43 I agree. It makes the arb feel like a zoo-like place for displaying plant-life specimens.* * * * * * * * * * * * raymond - 2005-02-04 12:47:30 "By definition, an Arboretum is 'a place where many kinds of trees and shrubs are grown for exhibition or study.'"* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2005-02-04 12:57:31 That's true. But there's no need for a bandshell, plaques, &c. They're packing the Arb to the brim with clutter--you an barely see the forest for the benches. * * * * * * * * * * * * Anna - 2005-02-04 15:41:42 I'm with Laura: fair enough, but yes, why the bandshell? And beside, the idea of "exhibiting" wildlife is charmingly Victorian, but it doesn't really suit Ann Arbor or the Arboretum itself very well. I like the meadow with native species -- *that's* the kind of "exhibition" I like to see.* * * * * * * * * * * * add your comment: |