At its March 1 General Committee meeting, councillors gave staff the green light to formulate and issue a request for proposals (RFP) for an art installation at Kent Park.
Council approved an amount not to exceed $25,000 for the project which will be coming out of the Town’s art acquisition reserve fund which currently contains $39,000. Those funds could be offset by any fundraising and sponsorship opportunities.
Staff told councillors that consultation has taken place both with stakeholders and the community at large. The majority of respondents suggested that a request go out for submissions. A majority also noted that they’d like to see a local theme related to the area’s natural environment by a local artist/s.
Staff indicated that they would work with the Huntsville Arts Society (HAS) on an RFP, using the feedback they received from the community. Staff will also work with HAS to come up with an evaluation system and ultimately make a recommendation to the committee regarding the successful submission.
Please see the full staff report, here (pdf).
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Why issue a RFP when previous good suggestions for the park were ignored?
Residents will just be totally ignored again.
No resident suggested destroying a green park with cool shade trees in favour of a hot, stone quarry with zero shade.
Council wasted $400,000!! of taxpayer money on the destruction.
While increasing our taxes.
Instead of $25K for temporary art rip out the stones and put some shade trees and green grass back.
As has been stated many times by many residents:
The Kent Park fiasco is an embarrassment to our town.
Fix it.
Allen Markle….bravo!
Frances Botham: Your point is well made. It would be hard to dope out the plot line for the debacles such as this group of ‘councillors’ are capable of managing. Who would score the music?
$25,000.00 for a ‘brand’ that looks like fabric for flair leg pants from the 70’s.
Council asked the people what they would like in place of the park they were going to destroy. Suggestions were ignored and Kent ‘Park’ became a stone wasteland. Even a few upright markers, as in a grave yard.
Now they wonder if they can put some art there. Even offering a bit of cash. Think that will work folks? We have vandals that can’t even manage to leave the facilities alone.
And facilities! We will have some again, thanks to the generous offer of a very gracious lady. The town apparently couldn’t manage to pay for them on its own. Increase in taxes or not.
Then there is a Manager of Operations who wonders if he might save a few bucks by closing a service that was built by the province in the 1870s. The savings might recover some of the money council punted on the plaid pants. And the rumor now is that council may not go through with the closure. So the young man may have just been wasting his time figuring it all out. Seems about par.
Add to that the quandary of parking in the town. People who work downtown have nowhere to park; or if they do find a place to park, anyone who wants to shop can’t find a place to stop. Maybe we can rent some space from a business man, now that we gave spots away to another business.
And these are all just a few of the episodes in the continuing saga of our Town Council.
Might we call it ‘never-land’?
Ease up on the pixie dust Tink!!
Considering that there is a park just across the road from this Kent Park which does have trees and also water to look at, this area might have served the town and people better if it had just been a parking spot, since it is mostly concrete anyway. Since the money has been spent on it, however, I guess we shouldn’t be negative, just sad.
The Kent Park fiasco is an embarrassment to our town.
Boulders and concrete comprise the decor/theme of the day.
Now add an art installation in the $25,000 price range.
Chrome and acrylic? Plastic?
Have the aliens landed and assumed control?
One couldn’t fabricate a story like this because it’s too off the edge!
We have been fortunate to have been able to do a bit of travelling recently and in a number of countries we have seen ‘sails’ used very effectively to provide shade over large squares. Often made of vinyl they seem durable, would need to be seasonably managed by the Town and (in my opinion) look quite attractive. Trees are great but they lost the battle in Round 1 and a solution is needed in the short term to allow the park to be the oasis it was conceived to be.
So they can find money for this but they close the Brunel Locks because they need to find savings? The lunatics are running the asylum.
Plant some trees, give people shade and open the locks for gods sake!
Here we go again! This little park is a lovely open space with seating for passersby strolling around the downtown. More shade is needed. Trees may not be an option. Few grow well in concrete. People argue evergreen vs deciduous. Neither grow well there. Perhaps shade sails would be a great option. They provide instant wide coverage, are attractive and can be removed in the winter. Installing secure supports the main challenge. Be careful as adding too much becomes clutter and the options for occasional temporary displays or concerts or buskers disappears. Last summer lots of people used it as a rest spot, enjoying a coffee or ice-cream or a meeting-a-friend spot. More shade would be helpful.
Before the proposed art installation, how about installing more shade with some natural art called “Trees”. Shade first then art.