Ray Harris: "the Park Board Doesn't Care About Fountains."
Barbara Flanagan write's in her column about how the parks and city are suffering from neglect and how someone is trying to do something about it:
Ray Harris thinks there's a way to cope with this neglect, and he's doing something about it. Harris is retired -- or he's supposed to be -- but he can't stop tending to this city where he has spent about 50-plus years developing parts of it. For example, Calhoun Square and the Greenway Gables townhouses at Loring Park were his.
There are three "little things" that have Harris back in action.
One is Peavey Plaza on the Nicollet Mall at 11th Street. Then there is the Loring Greenway leading from the Mall to Loring Park and, in the park, there is the Berger Fountain. It is named for Ben Berger, longtime park commissioner who gave the fountain to the city.
"The Park Board doesn't care about fountains. They accept them and then ignore them," Harris said. "The Berger's foundation needs lots of work. It's leaking. And there are so many other things that need repair on it.
"The [Loring] Greenway is in horrible condition," he continued. "It's supposed to be a charming walkway from city streets to park greenery. Well, take a look at it. The one good thing I can tell you is that the city has agreed to repave it, which will give it a temporary lift.
"Then, Peavey Plaza next to our Orchestra Hall is in horrible condition," he said. "The surface needs to be replaced. It needs greenery. At night, it could be dangerous. The orchestra realizes it, but it is not their worry. Peavey Plaza is city property."
So what do we do? Harris is working on a plan that would attract volunteers, like himself, to organize and work on doing these three projects at once.
On Dec. 12, he's sponsoring an afternoon seminar at the Hyatt Regency Hotel featuring Gianni Longo, a New York architect and urban planner who is familiar with Minneapolis. Longo will offer comments about the project and other ideas.
Harris said he hopes to appeal to some local executives to join him. "We are a world-class city or we were and we can be again," he said, "but we have to tend to what is ailing. I hope we can do it."
Anybody ready to begin?
Read the entire article at the Star Tribune website.