Surrender, Dorothy
Just when you think the 21st Century is starting to take hold in Floyd County, up pops the stench of cronyism and "think-for-today-alone" policymaking.
The looters seem to think no one is watching.
Did you wonder just how the county was planning to pay for its stopgap solution to the decaying youth home/annex? You know, the deteriorating building they've refused to upgrade all these years? The one that stands ever ready to be condemned for human occupancy?
The last remaining green space along Grant Line Road is the lawn that descends from the building known in the vernacular as the "poor farm." Alongside the priceless Sam Peden Community Park, this county-owned land is a figurative breath of fresh air.
Having lost their fight to buy a totally unsuitable church building that, by the way, would have enriched a former colleague by way of a real estate commission, the council wants to build what is sure to be a temporary structure to house county employees. They insist that downtown New Albany, the historic seat of government, just won't work, so they're going to build a $6 million building that is unlikely to outlast the term of the construction bond.
But how do they propose to come up with this $6 million, when a suitable downtown alternative is available for less than a half-million? Why, of course, they want to sell off the frontage along Grant Line Road to a strip-mall developer.
What a marvelous improvement to GLR that will be...hmmph!
Sounds like a sweetheart deal to me, but let's ignore that for a moment. Is more retail space that motivates continued sprawl and traffic tie-ups what New Albany and Floyd County need or want? Is turning over what is essentially park land to a quick-pour monstrosity the answer to the blight of more and more commercial development?
Let's infill the available space, much of it better-built, much of it in historic structures, and build a community instead of exacerbating our drive-in lifestyles.
Better yet, let's take this land permanently out of the ravenous hands of quickie developers and make it a place of honor.
The Grant Line Road frontage is the perfect location for a Law Enforcement Memorial monument. It's on a historic road with easy access by Interstate. It's next to a beloved community park used often by area residents. And it's already owned by US.
This is the week each year we honor those law enforcement professionals who have given their lives in the line of duty. So let's start the ball rolling now. Make the park-like frontage a solemn memorial to those officers in Southeast Indiana who have paid the ultimate price in service to their communities. Dedicate the land to a Vietnam Memorial-type tribute for the men and women in the nearest 17 Indiana counties who've died on the job.
Whaddaya think about that? Or maybe we really DO need another strip mall?
----------------------------------------------------
Randy Smith, destinations@sbcglobal.net
The looters seem to think no one is watching.
Did you wonder just how the county was planning to pay for its stopgap solution to the decaying youth home/annex? You know, the deteriorating building they've refused to upgrade all these years? The one that stands ever ready to be condemned for human occupancy?
The last remaining green space along Grant Line Road is the lawn that descends from the building known in the vernacular as the "poor farm." Alongside the priceless Sam Peden Community Park, this county-owned land is a figurative breath of fresh air.
Having lost their fight to buy a totally unsuitable church building that, by the way, would have enriched a former colleague by way of a real estate commission, the council wants to build what is sure to be a temporary structure to house county employees. They insist that downtown New Albany, the historic seat of government, just won't work, so they're going to build a $6 million building that is unlikely to outlast the term of the construction bond.
But how do they propose to come up with this $6 million, when a suitable downtown alternative is available for less than a half-million? Why, of course, they want to sell off the frontage along Grant Line Road to a strip-mall developer.
What a marvelous improvement to GLR that will be...hmmph!
Sounds like a sweetheart deal to me, but let's ignore that for a moment. Is more retail space that motivates continued sprawl and traffic tie-ups what New Albany and Floyd County need or want? Is turning over what is essentially park land to a quick-pour monstrosity the answer to the blight of more and more commercial development?
Let's infill the available space, much of it better-built, much of it in historic structures, and build a community instead of exacerbating our drive-in lifestyles.
Better yet, let's take this land permanently out of the ravenous hands of quickie developers and make it a place of honor.
The Grant Line Road frontage is the perfect location for a Law Enforcement Memorial monument. It's on a historic road with easy access by Interstate. It's next to a beloved community park used often by area residents. And it's already owned by US.
This is the week each year we honor those law enforcement professionals who have given their lives in the line of duty. So let's start the ball rolling now. Make the park-like frontage a solemn memorial to those officers in Southeast Indiana who have paid the ultimate price in service to their communities. Dedicate the land to a Vietnam Memorial-type tribute for the men and women in the nearest 17 Indiana counties who've died on the job.
Whaddaya think about that? Or maybe we really DO need another strip mall?
----------------------------------------------------
Randy Smith, destinations@sbcglobal.net
posted by All4Word at 9:33 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home