THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, November 12, 1995 TAG: 9511100150
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
COLUMN: IDA KAY'S PORTSMOUTH
SOURCE: IDA KAY JORDAN
LENGTH: Medium: 66 lines
Official fury still rages over the prospect of putting a carousel in the atrium of the Children's Museum of Virginia. I still think it's probably a good idea.
But I also like an idea put forward by John Winters, one of my Northside neighbors (and son of the late Miles and Shirley Winters, for you old-timers). John suggested compromise.
Why don't they put a merry-go-round on the Middle Street Mall, he asked me when i saw him on election night.
It could be enclosed in Plexiglas and brightly lit, he continued.
A bright spot on High Street at night, a constant attraction, he added.
Not a bad idea, huh?
There's no doubt that people in this city like the idea of a merry-go-round for the Children's Museum. Literally hundreds have told me so. The proponents cut across the entire spectrum of the population.
But the powers-that-be seem adamantly opposed to the idea, no matter what the public says.
If the project continues to hang in limbo, the solution might be in compromise and the suggestion put forth by John Winters is the best alternative I've heard.
An enclosed carousel on the Middle Street Mall certainly would be an improvement over the tacky stuff the city paid big bucks to have installed around the museum's main entrance.
Perhaps it's a matter of taste, but many people feel that way about the configurations of canvas, plastic and metal erected there. They offer little protection from the sun or rain, although the designers sold them as places for children and their grownups to enjoy while waiting to enter the museum.
Admittedly, I have a bias about these useless installations because they cost us the old Middle Street Mall. One of the great pleasures of walking from our office through the parking garage to High Street used to be the mall. The area was shaded with large trees that were thick enough to protect pedestrians from light rain as well as from hot summer sun.
Brick sidewalks, now replaced by concrete, and wooden benches, now removed, were pleasantly soothing - especially when some of Lauren Gehman's plants in the area were blooming.
Over all, the Middle Street Mall used to be a singularly pleasing oasis in the middle of Downtown.
Last year about this time it was destroyed to make way for the installations the museum designers wanted to put there. Actually, except for the museum entrance, none of them was in place until this year.
But there's nothing gained by crying over spilt milk.
Perhaps there could be something gained by seriously considering the compromise idea from Winters.
A merry-go-round would be a vast improvement for the mall. By enclosing the mall and lighting it, we would create a handsome year-round attraction to High Street and the Children's Museum.
Although a carousel on the second floor projecting out over the sidewalk would be most spectacular, a glass-encased mall with a handsome merry-go-round and year-round flowers also could be spectacular.
The mall is ugly and not at all interesting as it now stands. By making it come alive with movement and music, we would be adding a dimension to High Street - and we could do it tastefully. by CNB