Either the MDDD is having some fun with MR-T writer Colin Guy, or the MR-T has accidently printed an April Fools article two days too early. Or...or the Magic Interactive Fountain of Revitalization is not just bad joke but is actually being considered as a good use of your tax dollars.
At least $480,000 of your tax dollars.
"[Project architect Gary] Vandergriff said the cost of the project would be around $480,000 at a minimum, including the cost for the architectural design but not the engineering designs."
WET Design, the firm that was approached about the project said that it "would be willing to work on a project in Midland but would not consider participation on a project with a budget of less than $300,000."
WET Design is the firm that did the work on those fountains, you know, at the freakin Bellagio.
"The current fountain at Pioneer Plaza features three tall spouts of water that spurt up to 30 feet high, Vandergriff said. It was "really quite a piece when operational," he said, and was an attractive feature for the building's employees and tenants but is not something that is very accessible to the public. Vandergriff said there are many options available for expanding the water feature and WET Design's proprietary technology could greatly enhance the water fountain.
Oh, it gets even better!
"Vandergriff said the technology utilized by WET Designs allows them to develop water fountains that can be programmed to behave in different "styles" in conjunction with various musical accompaniments. He said the company has also developed a patented process that causes the fountains' to produce "sculpture forms" out of the water they spray."
Truly, if this idea is even on the list of ideas for Downtown revitalization (much less high enough to rate an article) then it is proof positive that this band of insiders were formed and had pushed through legislation to coerce the unwilling before they had single idea on what to actually do with the money that was to be extracted from within the MDDD boundaries and lobbied for from without, i.e. all or part of the Federal grant money.
Politically, I think they have misjudged Midland's sensibilities. It is probably okay to speak in terms of employment incentives and micro-loans for development, and tax abatements in the name of "economic development". Glazed-over eyes are always considered general "support" in these situations.
But when you propose to drop over half a mil on a play pretty like this proposed fountain it may just stick in the craw of your average Midlander. To add insult to injury it looks as though we will be paying the building owners for the privilege of fixing the fountain that they don't value enough to fix themselves.
Operationally? I would be curious to know whether the new half million dollar fountain park will be maintained by the same organization that maintains, say, this particular water feature....one so sadly lacking in interactivity.
If this is on the list of projects for the MDDD then there is no argument to be made for their handling any public funds. Period.
And should this ham-handed largesse find a way on to the list of the City Council's (well most of the Council, anyway) priorities then.....well...that is actually good news because all of the other problems must have been solved. This may be one of those times when the Council is looking at the MDDD and telling them, "People are going to think you we're on drugs when you came up with this...and you may want to go ahead and take that as your defense."
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S: They don't know what to do with the money. Money is available and budgeted.
Walser: great post! "...there is no argument to be made for their handling any public funds. Period." Amen!
The only possible positive I can see in this deal is the opportunity to sell towels from a cart on the corner of Big Spring and Wall. With the wind blowing out of the south like it is 8 out of 10 days, and howling out of the south at least on one of those 8, and wrapping and accelerating around and between the buildings, the dousing that the cars on the street will get will be entertaining. Water spots everywhere. Unless the half a mil fountain is going to be run with reverse osmosis water. (and why not...it'd only be another $100k or so...)
And what about our drought? We don't have an 70 year old, 500 foot deep lake next door like Vegas does. A little irresponsible to be considering any kind of water feature isn't it? Or will the MMMD require the downtown buildings to be retrofitted with 1 liter per flush urinals to compensate for the fountain's usage and evaporation?
Oooooo! Better idea: plumb the downtown urinals to the fountain. The symbolism alone might be worth half a mil!
...and we could use a copy of the Belgian kid fountain as the centerpiece (see Walsingham's November post). I may contribute directly to the construction cost myself!
Did somebody on the MDDD give Vandergriff, a downtown tenant, (is that a conflict?) the green light to dream up wild ideas like Architectural Schools do for towns as "Senior Projects" every semester?
Supposedly, Vandergriff has done a "Conceptual Master Plan" for the MDDD, but the MRT hasn't really done a story on what it contains, outside of this Fountain, wall street and tearing down Midland Savings.
I understand the hearts of manhy on the Council and City Staff, but sometimes, it just seems they take their eye off the ball and run with some odd "beautification" project that doesn't even fit into the "build it and they will come" model.
Ohhhh... on the pools and Parks and Rec in general:
I think one of the big problems is that Parks and Rec has handed over the "control" of many facilities to volunteer, quasi-public groups, like Midland Soccer Association, Midland Greater Football League, Midland Softball Association, Midland Little League, etc. These groups are great for running the leagues, getting volunteers, marketing tournaments, etc., but they really don't have the resources or expertice to do facility planning, big maintenance, or big upgrade projects. Fixing scoreboards, normal consumables and utilities is about all they can do.
I think the City believes their current facilities are "paying their own way" through collected fees or through the efforts of their exclusive operators and therefore they have neglected existing assets and focused on "the New Master Planned Quadrant Parks."
The shame of it all is things like softball fields, hold National Tournaments which generate that ED manna "Hotel Motel Taxes", but the City doesn't pour any significant amount of H-M Tax back into the facilities. The groups may get some seed money from the Chamber or the City to put together a Bid, but to spend money on Lights, new infields, new fields, parking....perish the thought. I have been to plenty of smaller, and less affluent towns with much nicer Parks and Rec facilites than Midland.
Though I am not always in agreement with the bards at JW, I'm with you on this one! The money could be much better spent on important project. Like putting in drains on "D" St. near my home so it would not be a constant stagnant stream. Or....fix the pools! Or hire more cops to curb the excesses of wayward teenaged drivers.
I do want to make it clear that I mean their access to public funds. If they want to do this with private money, hey, let them knock themselves out.
And while we know that our city leaders don't have levees to maintain and repair (specifically) they do have other responsibilities....and remember how ridiculous we thought it was when we found out post-Katrina about the....wait for it...water fountain that was built by one of the Levee District Boards?
Perhaps ramping up some bird flu precautions, or less apocalyptic, perhaps just maintaining beyond "third world" standards our existing water features is in order.
Priorities, gentlemen. Priorities.
I looked at the 2025 Vision Master Plan for Midland, again, and for Parck and Rec all they talk about is acquiring more acerage and building / maintaining a trail system (like the TXU Transmission line (Alley) Trail. (Table 9-3 City Master Plan 2025)
There is some blather about the sports complex as a recreational venue, but they don't even mention softball tournaments and soccer tournaments which have a long and proven track record of bringing in visitors.
Our City fathers and planners seem to be blind to things which are already meeting many of their stated goals for the community! Instead of improving and supporting the existing, dream up something new!
. . . perhaps it should be a dancing oil fountain, in keeping with the vernacular of the city, and every hour you'd get some scene like in the film Giant, when the wildcat gusher comes in . . . even a little pioneer-era skit in period costume . . . of course, a dancing water fountain might go a long way in changing Midland's stogdy, button-down collar image . . . . and heck, the Rio Nuevo folks still haven't found a buyer for all that water they plan to mine . . . .
A black oil fountain raining down on all the gas-guzzling SUV's when the wind blows. There is something oddly evil and delicious in that mental picture.
On a higher note, I once worked in the old FNB bank where said fountain is today. The reason the planters and such were built in front of it (I don’t think they were there originally) was indeed to protect the walking pedestrians and cars stopped at the lights. Nothing is more difficult to remove from car paint than Midland water.
And you gentlemen have been much too kind about this idea. I will be more blunt; DUMB, STUPID, WASTFULL, feebleminded, retarded, simpleminded, foolish, idiotic, imbecile, imbecilic, moronic, ignorant, illiterate, lowbrow, uneducated, uninformed, untaught, unthinking, absurd, asinine, balmy, cockeyed, crazy, cuckoo, daffy, daft, dotty, harebrained, insane, kooky, loony (also looney), lunatic, MAD, nonsensical, nutty, preposterous, sappy, screwball, silly, unwise, wacky, zany; fallacious, illogical, invalid, irrational, and unreasonable. Though an excellent post!
there is a big beautiful fountain inside ClayDesta Center, and I don't see people from aroudn the world lined up to get a look at it.
It seems that some one or group is hellbent on getting them a big fountain. I suggest if they must, don't put it at this ocation, but put it out in middle of an open area, where more peole can view it, it won't shower the cars and buildings with corrosive water and the extra space and would give the designer a clean slate to work from. Like The Rail Road ROW.
Powerful electric water pumps and lighting require a lot of electricity to operate.
Anybody want to bet against the MDC or the MDDD providing a subsidy or incentive to W Power and Light to supply it?
If you work downtown, you know that the intersections where Big Spring meets 1) Wall, 2) Texas, and 3) Illinois are near blind corners and you can count on a wreck or two a week.
By all means, let us add something really terrific for motorists to observe at one of them.
a&mgrad: You are correct about the spray from the fountain. That particular corner is the worst wind canyon in all of downtown and it pushed that 30 foot fountain to every corner of that small park (and into the street) at times.
Has anyone asked the question why the existing fountain that "was really quite a piece when it was operational" has not been considered an asset worth fixing, maintaining, and operating by its last several owners?
Is that not some pretty valuable information as to the worth of the whole endeavor?
Ditto on the observation that the City is badly neglecting its municipal pools.
If the new dog park is maintained similarly, look for it to be hip deep in dog doo in three months.
Walser, a&mgrad, Shep, and Aztlan now have all agreed on two things.
Dogs and cats sleeping together! /Bill Murray voice
Idiocy is idiocy no matter your stripes Site Admin. Blood will be spilled soon enough. ;)
For that particular corner (along with the park between the courthouse and the Midland Center and its fountain/waterfall) what the workers and natives would use would be some shade, some water misting plumbing to cool the air for the summer and some benches. Then maybe you could attract someone with a hot dog/burrito/ice cream/fruit ice cart...
It would at least be a comfortable place for the neighborhood smokers to gather. Make sure the site plan has lots of sand filled ashtrays and $ to pay someone to clean them out a couple of times a day. Or, like the dog doo at the dog park, we'll be hip deep in cigarette butts in a week. (And yes, I am very pro-smoker but I am also very anti-littering.)
I just got it....Dogbert works for the Fountaineers and the Elbonians are getting the contract to build it.Their project name.. "The Big Douche"
So a dancing fountain will cost a minimum of $300,000 to $480,000????
Maybe at $290,000 - $470,000, eurasian can come out with a dancing fountain experimental of a different move. Would you like eurasian to wear his thinking cap?
This is cool, you have to try it. I guessed 33756, and this game guessed it! See it here - http://www.funbrain.com/guess/
The waterfall at Centennial Plaza is nothing if you want to get an idea of our "in-house" capabilities.
Go have a look at both Doug Russell pool and at Washington Park pool. They are literally falling apart.
Compared to Odessa's public pools ours look like they are in a third world country.
I don't know where the failure lies here in Midland (do the parks people not know what to do with the money...or do they just not get any money), but a failure it most certainly is.