Fencing Liberty Memorial? Is the Civic Irony Meter on the Fritz?
You need to be a hyped-up brand of clueless to propose a fence surrounding something named for Liberty, but the private Liberty Memorial Association wants to spend $1.4 million to do exactly that. (Yes, these are the same people who reacted to a minor spending cut by threatening to "douse the flame" on the Liberty Memorial.)
To justify their ironic request, they cite a fear that "undesirable activity" could take place at the park. They also claim that "the memorial, as a national historic landmark and home to the National World War I Museum, deserves the protection of a fence." If anything "deserves" fencing, I doubt that Liberty leads the list.
The open approach to Liberty Memorial, when viewed from the North or the South, is one of the visual splendors of our city. For a private group of elites to rob Kansas City of that vista just so they can keep out "undesirables" is an affront to common sense, good judgment and liberty itself.
Labels: kansas city, liberty, TIF
posted by Dan at 6/02/2009 07:11:00 AM
12 Comments:
Dan, why do you find it necessary to download a unique identifier tracking cookie on to every computer that connects to your blog?
That is real creepy Danny-boy!
Seriously, I simply use the google/blogger software - if you're getting some kind of weird cookie, it's not from me. Trust me, I'm an English major, not a techie.
Dan, there are few irony meters left operable in the nation these days, so perhaps they have an excuse. Could just be irony-impaired. As a no doubt undesirable, I'm agin it.
If they have 1.4 million for a fence, then maybe we can further reduce the city subsidy to zero. Fence... bad idea, bad esthetics.
Anon 8:47,
I have a Google account that identifies me, when I choose it, to blog.
It provides the reader some degree of accountability for the statements being made.
What's creepy is when bloggers leave comments and demand the credibility of "Deep Throat".
$1.4 million would pay an off-duty security guard $60,000 a year for 23+ years to help run off those people who desired to do unscrupulous activity around the memorial.
I don't know about you, but that sure seems like a better spend to me than the fence...
Dan,
You actually make sense this time. This is the second time in 2009 (the other being one of your comments about beer).
wkb
Maybe the City Council members could encourage them to not put up a fence?
Actually, if it is up to the city council, they would create an ordinance that would be something like "no national war memorial/museum in the area South of Pershing between Main and Broadway may put fencing around their premises."
Anon 8:33 a.m. -- wouldn't that be neutral, as it would apply to any "national war memorial/museum in the area South of Pershing between Main and Broadway"?
Of course that would be neutral.
Who posts on a blog so early?
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