City Wants to Give Decatur Courthouse Green a Facelift
Decatur Metro | May 18, 2011 | 11:12 amAs promised by the City Manager at Monday’s commission meeting, Decatur’s 2011-2012 proposed budget is now online!
There’s always lots of great little tidbits of information in this most-readable of city budgets around. Here’s just one example that had me exclaim “Thank goodness!” out-loud.
It is anticipated that by the end of fiscal year 2011-2012, the City in cooperation with the Decatur Downtown Development Authority, will have facilitated the sale of the Decatur Holiday Inn to a new investment company who will provide significant upgrades to both the hotel and the conference center and will also be providing on-going management and maintenance services for the Conference Center. This will allow the City to use some of the net assets accumulated from the hotel/motel tax and management fees for other purposes. It is recommended that the City provide up to $200,000 in funding towards replacing the drainage and irrigation system and sod on the south side of the Courthouse Square as a match to stimulate funding from other sources to cover the cost of the balance of the project.
More interesting little snippets as I find them!
Maybe they’ll come up with some money to replace that butt ugly gazebo.
Agreed, The East end of the MARTA rooftop is more amenable to being used as an event stage. (of which it often serves)
The old Gazebo is now more in the way than useful. Some may not consider it ugly, but I’ll stipulate that it isn’t harmonious with the rest of the square furnishings and buildings. I wouldn’t mind seeing it replaced with one of those interactive water fountains that kids can jump around in.
The East end of the Marta Plaza is good if there are no tents set up there. Trying to watch the band when the Green Festival was going on the first Saturday in may was a nightmare. Worst Concert on the Square ever through no fault of the band.
The “old gazebo” is not that old at all. The Community Bandstand had not yet been built when I moved here in 1988; I think it went up in the early 1990’s. I know it was completed before the 1996 Olympics.
Sorry, but early 1990’s is old.
Hah! I guess that would depend on your point of view.
j.a.c., AMEN! I thought I was the only one in Decatur that hated that architectural heap. It should have been located on the end rather than the center of the green space, where more folks could use the space and see the performers. Where it is now destroys the space. This is an example of what happened when money and uninformed willfullness came together.
The green really needs it. It’s not very green. (Neither is our lawn but we’re not trying to attract visitors.) I imagine this is quite a task given how many folks sit on it for concerts, events, etc.
To further making the green a happy place, we might want to consider taking down the obelisk between the gazebo and the courthouse. It reads a bit unfriendly to our African American neighbors. My husband and I were a bit taken aback when we actually read the inscription(s) the other weekend. Anyone else ever read that thing?
Oh yeah. I’ve read it–really something.
Insofar as there is a lot of CSA nostalgia/CSA apologetics still around nowadays, having that thing sitting out next to the courthouse sends a bad message, probably offputting to lots of people. But it’s actually an interesting piece of history, insofar as these sorts of monuments celebrating the CSA were a part of the broader post-Reconstruction disenfranchisement of blacks and construction of our own Jim Crow apartheid system. (A piece of history we’re still living with.) I’d actually support keeping it up but adding one of those little explanatory boards/plaques talking about the history of the obelisk and putting these sorts of monuments in the wider context of Jim Crow.
Agreed. I think adding context does more good than attempting to erase traces of uncomfortable history.
Strongly agree. Trying to ignore uncomfortable history is not only inappropriate, it’s futile. Examining it head-on and trying to understand the context is more conducive to moving ahead (and never repeating it).
Raised and/or tiered greens? We could focus the walking into lanes; people could still walk on the greenspace, but there would be far less impact. And we could make an interesting skatespace out of the tiers as well.
Oh, oh, invert the gazebo into an amphitheater!
But alas, you can not defeat the gazebo:
http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Gazebo
If you really want to “green” the area I would start with cleaning up the Marta bus section. I’ve never seen so much trash, cigarette butts, discarded maps, etc… Maybe sitting a Decatur PD down there to ticket everyone who throws out trash. You could use the funds to clean up the rest of the square.
It would be nice to try to make the square an area more conducive to people spending time on it rather than walking through it. Perhaps some tables and chairs with umbrellas on the eastern side, and some shade trees on the western side?
The gazebo does prevent a bit of a challenge. It would be great to see a covered stage area backing up to the bird buildings so the music events could play back across the lawn. The Gazebo has horrible sight lines and the sound really bounces around up where the bands are performing. It makes it tough for bands to hear themselves (PA speakers usually send a different mix out to the audience than the monitors on stage). I would be a fan of seeing it gone.
However, I have been told by a couple of people that replacing it will “never happen”. Not sure why that is, but a couple of official types gave me that as a patented answer. Anyone know the history of it and why it would be so important?
All the folks who know probably won’t answer, but I just know there was a battle about it when it went up because it ruined the sight-line to the Courthouse from McDonough.
That said, I don’t know who the advocates were at the time and why they wanted it because nowadays I only hear people complain about it and no one ever says “I sure love the gazebo!”.
Actually I may have an article about it going up from while back. I’ll look through my “files” and report back if no one more knowledgeable chimes in.
I think I just heard someone say they loved the gazebo- in so many words
spaceman, Linda Harris bankrolled the project out of her substantial inheritance and Lyn Menne ram rodded it through. It was very important to them that it be placed over the old Marta glass light well. Why? I can’t think of any meaningful reason.
Wow. Did not realize that. That is very generous of Linda. I’ll get the story directly from her I guess. I am sure there is a reason.
I remember that the bandstand had to be a ‘gazebo’ and it had to be located where it is presently. There were very intelligent alternative proposals by others in the community who questioned the wisdom of plopping the thing in the middle of the greenspace, but the Harris/Menne tag team wouldn’t listen to anything else. It was Harris family money and as you know money talks. So, this is what we have and this is why we call it “Green” space.
I am appalled that anyone would write so rudely about a gift. What do you do at Christmas, throw the ugly sweater right back at granny’s face?
Can’t you think of a more appropriate analogy than Granny’s sweater?
I guess folks are entitled to an opinion in government related matters. I don’t care what people do with their money on their own property.
On a recent trip to Universal Studios in Orlando I noticed at the outdoor music plaza where they host concerts they were using a synthetic turf or Astoturf-like product. It really looked quite nice and not at all cheesy like you might expect. I am wondering if the city might be interested in going this route in the area surrounding the bandstand? I am not sure if real turf grass will even survive in those areas around the bandstand.
Here are some photos of the Music Plaza at Universal
bit.ly/kQSGZE
tpreed.
I’ve wondered about using such a ground cover there too..My question would be about the lifespan of such a product.
Also, I don’t like the gazebo either, but I doubt it’s going to be changed.
I get a crick in my neck every time I look at the gazebo.