Central Park Band shell T minus 7 days
Red Wing Central Park Bandshell Grand Opening
It's a week before the Red Wing Central Park Bandshell grand opening, and it looks like the project will finish right on schedule. All of the landscaping is in, the roof is finished, and the walls are just being completed. Photos will be posted this week.
This photo shows what the bandshell replaced. It was essentially a semi-circular stage with no walls, roof, or sound (except for those two primitive speakers on each side). One feature that carried over from the old stage is the two small curved staircases in the front.
Green side up!
T minus 12 days.
It is 88 degrees and humid, but dry.
The landscaping and sod arrived this morning and by the end of the day all of the greenery should be installed. In speaking with some of the subcontractors, the project is slightly ahead of schedule.
For anybody who is curious about the mysterious little back door; it leads into a very narrow and small utility room. The circuit breaker box and the water meter are in this room. Which was kind of disappointing.
Central Park Bandshell T minus 17 days
Exciting New Addition to the Bandshell
Today, the first of 32 laminated and tempered glass windows in the back wall of the shell were installed. This promises to be one of the most striking design elements of the Bandshell, as it will open up the entire structure from both sides. The limestone blocks used are quarried in Winona, Minnesota, with each block hand-cut into a random pattern. The keystone blocks are manufactured in a factory.
Rain is forecast for the rest of the week.
The ghost signs of Red Wing
A Testament to History
Red Wing is unique because it has such an authentic core downtown. This doesn't mean it's frozen in time. Rather, it has to do with having traceable roots. Buildings are typically not torn down; when they can be salvaged and restored, they are.
One of the lasting elements that are easily overlooked are the ghost signs of Red Wing. Sometimes called fading ads or brick-ads, they are remarkable in their staying power. Red Wing has many brick buildings, and there are several examples of ghost signs all over town. You need to look closely to see the Coca-Cola ghost sign. The Hotel Haven sign is pretty much illegible.
The corner shown above is Plum and East 3rd Street (SE corner) in Downtown Red Wing.
The June update of the Central Park Bandshell
Red Wing Central Park Bandshell Progress Update
The Red Wing Central Park Bandshell continues to make progress. The roof is on, but not yet shingled. The foundation work seems to be complete, judging by the dirt fill that was brought in. The back wall will be glass, and the shell walls will be the next significant milestone.
The inauguration of the Bandshell will be on Saturday, July 4th, 2009. The schedule of events is as follows (all times are PM):
3:45-4:30: The Phoenix Theatre will sing selections from their upcoming production of Fiddler on the Roof (free!)
5:00-6:00: Rosanne Cash (free!)
6:45-8:00: Roomful of Blues (free!)
8:45-9:30: Sheldon Brass Band finishing with 1812 Overture, complete with real cannon! (free!)
10:00-??: Fireworks over the Mississippi River (free!)
Eat. Shop. Play. Local.
The Importance of Funding Art and Spending Local
Recently, a letter to the editor of the local newspaper argued for funding art at the elementary school level. Apparently, there has been discussion about reducing the amount of art received in elementary schools due to budget pressures. The typical solution has been to increase the tax levy and ask taxpayers to pay more.
A more sustainable approach is to simply spend local. Every dollar spent locally in a community can have up to three times the multiplier tax return to the community versus buying from an out-of-state big box retailer, all without raising taxes a single cent. Let's use two simple examples:
Example 1: A citizen spends a dollar at a local big-box retailer. Taxes are exchanged for that dollar spent, and the dollar is promptly deposited in an out-of-state bank account somewhere in Four Corners, Arkansas. That dollar is retired as far as the local economy is concerned.
Example 2: A citizen spends a dollar at their local custom frame shop. Again, taxes are exchanged, but this time the local frame shop owner races to their local bank to cover the check they wrote to the local plumber to have their hot water heater repaired. The plumber, in turn, cashes that check to buy a silk suit from Josephsons Clothing Store. Tom from Josephsons then uses that money to buy himself a beer next door at The Staghead Restaurant to celebrate having finally sold that XXXL silk suit.
The same dollar has contributed to the local economy three separate times, each time participating in the overall tax exchange and actively contributing to the cash flow of four different local employers.
Red Wing Downtown Main Street is focused on exactly these types of issues. The Eat-Shop-Play-Local tag-line could include many other action verbs (Buy. Stay. Invest.), but the point is to think about where your money goes after you spend it.
Who photographs the photographer?
A Paradox
In a village, there is a very special barber. He has a sign in his window that says, “I cut the hair of everyone in the village who does not cut his own hair.” The question becomes: who cuts the barber's hair?
For the past several mornings, I have been getting up at 5 am to try and take a specific photo at sunrise, which is around 5:45 am (are you impressed yet?). This time of year, the sun rises directly to the east of The Eisenhower Bridge over the Mississippi River. At sunrise, the barge traffic begins moving for the day, heading northbound for the Twin Cities.
For those keeping score, The Eisenhower Bridge was dedicated in 1960 and is 1,631 feet long (1/3 mile). It is 35 feet wide (two lanes) and is 65 feet over the river.
The shot I wanted didn't happen today because of low clouds on the horizon. The early barge traffic was already on the move when the sun started to peek out, so things did not coordinate this time.
The shot above is the only shot of merit that I took. Pretty, but not what I needed or wanted.
I went home and then got to work the same morning when my friend Tim emailed me the following photos and asked me if I knew who was on the bridge (look closely). The first photo was taken within a minute after mine, judging by how his sun seems ever so slightly higher (factoring in the difference in height) and the wake from the fishing boat. The second photo was a minute later (I keep a corner of my eye on those oncoming tractor-trailer mirrors).
Above two photos courtesy of Tim Alms,
Back to the barber; we don't know who cuts his hair. It is a self-contradiction.
Does the barber cut his own hair? No, because the barber cuts only the hair of those who don't cut their own hair.
Does the barber not cut his own hair? No, because then the barber would have to cut his own hair, as he cuts the hair of those who don't cut their own hair.
Using an even more complex explanation, the barber is trying to be a part of his own set, those who do not cut their own hair. But the set cannot include the barber because he is the set. This is the contradiction.