More on the Saratoga 9/11 Memorial

Idle Hands = Wandering Minds

A lot of people have WAY too much time on their hands

(A followup to a prior post)

Random Riffs:


- A few years back in the Town of Glenville, a local restaurant owner went about the process of getting WTC steel relics, with the plan of creating a 9/11 tribute at his business on the banks of the Mohawk River. A fine memorial it is, too. He got it done without anything approaching the tortuous process, debate and rancor that the City of Saratoga Springs is now going through.

- The obvious key reason for this smooth completion, of course, is that it was done as a private sector initiative, devoid of the twin roadblocks called nonprofits and government entities, as is the case with this Spa boondoggle.

- Of greater interest is to note that the Glenville memorial is not a commissioned "work of art." Two steel sections were procured, and were erected in simple vertical format. Period, done deal. No artists, no artistic debate, no juried decision making, no meetings-to-schedule-meetings.

- The restaurant's location is not "downtown" and not in a heavy foot traffic area. To get there, one typically takes a car or bike ride.

- The fact that the Saratoga Springs example goes in a contrary manner to these two choices is reflective of the 'Saratoga mindset,' if you will:

*** The "it has to be a work of art" decision reflects the city's belief of it somehow being an 'arts center', or at least the epicenter of some sort of creative and cutting edge artist colony. Memo to all involved: it is not.


*** The "it has to be downtown" consensus reflects the city's automatic "it's all about the tourists" point of view. Even those people criticizing the work's artistic merits fall into this trap; one of them asked at a City Council meeting "why would someone come to Saratoga to see this?" Is it REALLY all about the tourists, or is there some room for the further development of an actual livable community in Saratoga?

- The City Center "Oops, it's too big to fit here after all" fiasco should raise the question of "OK, now who the hell fucked this thing up?" But no one seems to be asking that question or seeking accountability. This question was first posed by an observant commentator in an other forum.

- The Plan B option of siting it on the lawn of the Visitors Center (better known to us natives as the Drink Hall) should be a non-starter because of the previous "it's SHOULDN'T be all about the tourists" reason as well as the fact that it simply does not scale to that location.

- The Plan C suggestion of the Lake Ave Fire House suggestion has two problems: it, too, does not scale to the neighborhood and the fact that placing it there creates a Drive-By attraction, as was correctly suggested on another blog comparing it to a McDonald's window. This should not be what it's all about.

- Plan D of the NYS Military Museum? See the above criticisms of the across-the-street Fire House.

- Suggestions of finding a site in the Spa State Park have merit. I would caution against the most popular among that bunch, the Reflecting Pool, however. To these eyes, that acre or so is the single most beautiful sight in the whole city and should be appreciated because of the fact that it has looked that way for many decades. It just might be the only such location in Saratoga that can make that simple claim. Given that we base much of our city's reputation and livelihood on that history thing, the Reflecting Pool neighborhood should be granted a sort of Forever Wild designation.

- That being said, there are other possible option within the Spa Park. There is a small plot of land just north (just to the right) of the Dance Museum that could work well while also providing a "walk or dive to it" choice.

- The Train Station was offered for the first time (we think) in this forum. We stand by that suggestion as being an alternative worthy of Short List consideration.

- We've also heard the "City Beach Property" (the old Waterfront Restaurant at Saratoga Lake) --- not bad.

- Regardless of the final siting decsion, it needs to be a 'touch-able' display, accessible by the public in a hands-on manner, for the obvious reasons.

- One thing we can all agree on: the ugly debate and discussion brought about by this exercise certainly puts a stamp on the once-great city of Saratoga Springs as having descended into little more than a glorified retirement village filled with individuals possessing little appreciation for its historical legacy or for the simple concept of "community."


RM