About a week ago I Posted How Do You Treat
an Icon? a kind of loose comparison between Daytona and how they are
looking at refurbishment of the Daytona International Speedway verses how the
City administration is approaching the issue of the Inverted Pyramid. I
included a picture of the signage around the speedway which includes the line:
"Pardon our dust as we reimagine an American Icon".
The Post inspired an e-mail response from the Kriseman
administration: "Pretty sure we have a similar sign by the pier as the one
you reference in your story."
The response raised my curiosity a bit so I took a trip to the
Pier to check it out.
I thought it would be a bit odd for the Kriseman administration
to admit the iconic status of the inverted pyramid on a public sign given their
almost fanatical desire to tear it down.
Sort answer: no they don't have such a sign - not even close. The
immaturity of Kriseman's inner circle and their lack of knowledge of reality
continue to show.
Above is the sign posted at the entrance to the Pier
approach. No reference to the iconic
status of the Pier. No reference to a new Pier.
To further indicate the level of respect or lack thereof the
administration has for the current structure, the sign on every Pier entrance
door is a simple sheet of letter stock printed on an inkjet printer. The sign
says only "BUILDING CLOSED".
I am not sure where all of this lack of respect or appreciation
for a structure that drew 10s of millions of people to St. Petersburg over the
years comes from or the fanatical desire to tear it down.
To his credit Mayor Kriseman did open the approach to the Pier
and the area around the structure, but there is just a port-a-potty and no
drinking water or concessions.
The day I was there a couple of people were fishing on the
approach and some people taking a few pictures. I sat out at the Pier head for
a while and could not help thinking about all of those millions of visitors who
came to see this unique structure and the literally millions and millions of
pictures with that structure in the background in photo albums all over the
world.
Something is terribly wrong.
From the beginning the plan was never to tear down the Pier. That
idea, tearing the Pier down driven primarily by one or two people, has now
influenced two mayors and convinced them that the public should not be listened
to.
City Council now holds the key to the Pier's future. It's time
for common sense to prevail.
E-mail Doc at mail
to:dr.gwebb@yahoo.com or send me
a Facebook (Gene Webb) Friend request. Please comment below, and be sure to
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