You may have noticed the mural going up across West Richmond Ave from Suzhou restaurant. It's Brian Elder's WPA-style snapshot of Point history, and by about mid-September it'll be ours too.
"What would happen if all the hard working, shady and trustworthy and not so hardworking got together and had a bit of a party?," he asks. Labor organizers, ne'er-do-wells, Rosie-the-Riveters, scallywags and everything in between--what if they all intersected?
He's rendering it all WPA-style with colors from Toulouse-Lautrec. He also remembers the huge Coca-Cola sign that was in the very same spot. And he pays homage to the late, great cartoonist who once lived in the building, Joel Beck.
I can't think of a better gateway.
See his sketch here. Keep in mind that your monitor or my scanning of his sketch may alter the colors from what he intends to put on the wall.
N.I.C.E. is down but not out, I'm sure. So I've been poking around at sites on business improvement districts, and I've found insights here and there.
Here's one in an article by a consultant, John L. Gann, called "Aspirins for Downtown." It's one of several articles.
Downtowns didn't go downhill because building facades had been modified to historical incorrectness. Nor because sidewalks were too plain-looking. Nor because elevated trains running over the street were a "blighting" nuisance. Neither was it because of inadequate police presence, lack of a "gateway," litter on the street, lampposts devoid of banners, no "wayfinding," or unsightly signs.
The origin of the downtown headache, in other words, wasn't a beauty deficiency, or a historical authenticity deficiency. We've fixed all these things, but, since we missed the causes, the fundamental problems remain.
A simple question reveals the answer: What did downtown have when it was at the peak of health and vitality that it down't have now? The answer, as obvious as it has been elusive, is: Activities.
Lots of them.
Stores, jobs, offices, taverns, movie theaters, nightclubs, banks, transportation centers, churches, good restaurants, post offices, housing, health clubs, services. In short, things to do. More specifically, economic things to do.
Downtown thrived when it was the pre-eminent place for large numbers of people to either spend or make money. And more people are motivated to do these things than to take in museums, appreciate architectural history, or experience the visual delights of ornamental pavers underfoot.
As I understood it, the first N.I.C.E. addressed only the "aspirins" as if things-to-do would follow on their own.
Downtown residents received a mailed notice this week about the new liquor license at the Baltic. Things seem to be moving ahead on the reopening.
Oops. A little script was supposed to fire up last week to tell all my thousands, perhaps dozens, of faithful readers that Talk was on vacation in Desolation Wilderness. But it didn't, stopped by an error on "line 15."
Talk has taken a rest from coverage of N.I.C.E., and it's now on to other juicy subjects--such as railroad "quiet zones."
Masquers Playhouse president Bob Goshay is happy now. The theater's neighbor is acting more neighborly.
Just a week ago, things looked different. That's about when neighbor Tom Butt, a partner in the next-door landlord, threatened to deny an easement for maintenance.
Tom was peeved that the Masquers had voted against N.I.C.E.--and demanded in a now-infamous email to withhold access if Masquers did not change its vote to one in favor.
The well-connected Talk correspondent Walter Connolly first alerted the world to the email on this very site late Monday. But not until Tuesday night's City Council session, when councilman Nat Bates revealed it, did we know for sure of the email's gist.
Oh, the mayhem that ensued. Even Josh Genser, Tom's partner in Mariner Square, said to Bates that Tom had been "out of line."
According to Bob, Josh followed through a day or so later with a cordial phone call in which he assured Bob of cooperation and neighborliness.
In that call, Genser said he himself was the managing general partner of Mariner Square Joint Venture. Should Masquers need access, he wrote, the theater should contact him.
Work has begun on the wall.
N.I.C.E. lost Tuesday night. N.I.C.E. lost big. I'll post details any hour now.
In the meantime, we hear from correspondent David Moore, curator of the fine Point Richmond Online. He says of the post-N.I.C.E. period, "This thing is getting to be like the Hatfields and McCoys. I'd like to see the opponents and proponents, as well as other interested parties, sit down in a room and work it out."
Well said, Dave.
N.I.C.E. leader Paula Asmus emails tonight that a few "key players" will vote after tomorrow night's City Council hearing. Earlier today, she emailed supporters asking them to lobby the Council. A yes vote by the city is crucial for N.I.C.E.
Has she rethought her Friday morning analysis? Perhaps her heroic efforts have brought the patient back to life.
While we're awaiting the outcome, I'll look into Walter Connolly's comment this evening --something about a letter from supporter Tom Butt to opponent Bob Goshay of Masquers Playhouse.
Do you suppose these two items are connected?