Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Visit the New Wing of the Nelson Art Gallery

The new addition to the Nelson Art Gallery is worth visiting. I did so this past week and was very impressed. Don’t get me wrong. The outside of the building is butt ugly at best – even if it glows at night -- it is still ugly during the daytime and that is when most people will see it. The inside is the treat. It is a marvel of architecture. Many of the exhibits have moved from the Nelson’s Modern Art section placed in the main building of the new wing of the museum. The expansive white walls and ceilings with their geometric shapes are a treat that add to the artistic values of the modern art sculptures. For those of a more traditional sense of art the rest of the new museum is well worth the visit. A word of advice – wear some comfortable walking shoes. It is a long slog from one end of the new Bloch Building to the other – and uphill all the way back. Parks and Police . . . Much has been written and said about the problems in Coleman Park. Most of it on this blog – but it appears that some people are finally beginning to listen. The police have become more responsive to calls (and there have been a lot of them) from neighbors of the park. The situation has also been helped by unusually cool and wet weather, which has rained out a number of the ball games played at the park. The Park Board and Police Department need to quit the “no, you shut-up” argument they have been having and work together to make certain park rules are enforced. Parks should be a “plus” for a neighborhood, not a “minus”. Finally, ALL city officials, from the Mayor no down need to quit taking the position of “Oh, I didn’t know there was problem in the parks” attitude. As the weather gets warmer we will see if the lesson has sunk in that there are degrees of civility that must be followed in public places. A lot of what has been happening at Coleman Park this spring has ignored that rule. It is time our Park and Police Department stepped up to the challenge of holding higher standards in our city parks. Kansas City's New Mayor . . . Mark Funkhauser has appointed a new Park Board. He replaced all but one member of the current Board with new members. Nothing wrong with that. As Mayor, it is his perogative. But his comments in doing so smacked of demagougery with racist overtones. Funkhauser stooped to a new low by accusing the Park Board of being a haven for elitists. Kansas City has long been held up as one of the nation's leading areas in park space for the public . . . it does not matter if your skin color is purple, green or blue. The good Mayor should remember that those "elitists" before him created that legacy.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Lets concentrate on our own park issues instead of KCMO's, the image and perception of their parks are not Raytowns problem or concern.

Anonymous said...

I am still looking for someone who can tell me how I can get into the Old First Baptist Church with a video camera.

This continuing mess and its consequences and cost to the taxpayers should be exposed.

I am also contacting Michael Moore -- the guy who exposed General Motors and George Bush for their hypocrisy. He might be interested in producing a documentary about what has become of Sue Frank's Folly.

If anyone, in or out of city hall, know how I can be legally allowed into the building please contact me through the Blog. Don't worry, I will bring my own waders when we explore the basement.

Pat Casady said...

To the Salamander,
No offense but I think you have burned that bridge.
I doubt anyone at City Hall will let you in.
After all the old church is owned by the city.

Anonymous said...

Ah, you mean the city is the leading slumlord in Raytown!!!

If my property looked like that (the First Baptist Church) the code enforcement people would be knocking my door down to write me citations.

Anonymous said...

Greg writes an excellent post. I don't agree with all of his ideas, but he raises valuable issues.

Here's an idea...let's discuss THEM instead of the one-trick pony RDA talking points that were repudiated by voters in a massive mandate.

Anonymous said...

Greg writes an interesting post on the new KC Mayor. While KC's politics are not very close to home for me, I watched the election from afar with great interest. I will admit, I was not much a fan of the Funk. Had I lived in KC I would have voted for Brooks.

One month in, however, he has done some things which impress me. Yes, he is also often a flailing amateur (the car situation has been a mess since day one)...wouldn't we expect that from a first time politician? Especially one who is trying so hard to not be a typical political animal?

Funkhouser will ruffle some feathers, but I think that is a good thing. KC's last mayor was not very impressive. Barnes left behind a mountain of debt and canyon of capital improvement problems. It will take some unusual thinking, some ruffled feathers and, oh yeah, a lot of money to recover from her eight year reign.