Another Deadline Announced by the Mayor
We have heard it before, whether it was on a TV newscast, the front page of the Daily Progress, a letter from the mayor, or at a Town meeting. This week the mayor announced yet another deadline for Streetscape completion. To quote the January 22 edition of the Daily Progress: “The project on Valley Street was originally slated for completion last summer. Phipps said the target now is the second week of February. We’re just waiting to get the new lights up,” Phipps said.
At a recent public meeting the Scottsville Town Administrator was asked about a completion date and deadlines for the remaining work on Streetscape. His response was that all such schedules went out the window six months ago and he had idea when anything would be completed. Now what, pray tell, is the mayor using as source material for his predictions? It must be the same source he has been using since this project began. Any sensible person would have concluded long ago that source is faulty.
A visit to the local hardware store yesterday to get a piece of window glass, prompted someone to suggest that maybe I should get enough glass to replace the textured glass in the window of the mayor’s office. By doing so, it was further suggested, the mayor might get a clearer view of what is actually happening on the street below his office window.
Anyone walking Valley Street can see much more needs to be done than just the installation of new lights. These new lights will only help illuminate the faults of the rest of the Streetscape project, the patched sidewalks, the broken new sidewalks, the transformers, the utility boxes on the fronts of store fronts, gray conduit pipes everywhere, the new overhead telephone line (more of this in a later post), and dirty buildings still sporting a covering of dust from Streetscape construction.
All of this is the result of “the $900,000-plus project (which) is the town officials’ grand vision to revive business and provide a new, improved look and feel (Daily Progress 12/12/07).” I personally am glad it is “grand” vision and not a mediocre vision.
Vision can be difficult to see in reality. Vision requires that one be able to see the details of a project from beginning to end. At it requires due diligence in seeing that the vision is carried out as planned.
When I renovated 350, 375, 410-430, 495-497, 510, 720, and 724 Valley Street some on my own and some with others, I did so not as part of any grand Streetscape program, but as part of a grandeur vision of Scottsville. For me it was a chance to truly save Scottsville. I and the others did this with no monetary support from the town nor any taxpayer on any level. It was done with complete private initiative. I am continuing this effort now with 732 Valley Street. Recent work by other property owners have shown that private initiative can accomplish much more in Scottsville than public programs.
In each commercial project, one major goal was to try and remove all utilities from the fronts and sides of each building. I succeeded in each project. This was not mandated by anyone nor any body such as the ARB, it was a personal choice. It is very disappointing to now see electric meter bases put back on the side of one building to the exact spot I had previously removed them from. It seems that was the easy way to get new service to the building. Even more upsetting is to see that no effort was made to remove any other utility connections from any other building, but instead added more clutter to the fronts of buildings. So much for “Saving Old Scottsville”, aka SOS and “enhancing” Valley Street. Oh, but I forget, SOS is another project that the mayor spearheaded.
I am not a wagering man, but any thoughts on when Streetscape will be finished? I have lent an ear to many possible dates, many of which are in another lifetime.
January 26, 2008 at 6:44 am
SOS should stand for S#%@ ON SCOTTSVILLE. That’s certainly what has happened to any semblance of Historical ambience… thanks to STREETSCRAPE. Removing the generally accepted and unnoticed overhead utilities has resulted in obvious, ugly, intrusive and ‘stand out’ additions such as large multiple riser conduits, pads, transformers and termination boxes. Where we once had the view of an old town aging gracefully, we now have a view of an old town with intrusive utilities, patched sidewalks and curbs that range in height from 1” to 7. Just think about how ugly those gray riser conduits are going to be after being crushed and broken by vehicles trying to park. I wonder where the money will come from to replace them?? It’s not going to be cheap or without considerable inconvenience to disconnect a primary power feed or telephone cable in order to make a replacement.
The big black ‘highway in the sky’ telephone cable crossing Valley at the head of the project is the final insult to Old Scottsville. With all the ‘nuts’ that can be found in and around the Town Hall, perhaps some Squirrels will move into town and at least give us ‘something’ to smile about as we enter town and see them trafficking across the street on the cable.
The best thing to do with Valley Street: Plow it up and plant it in turnips!!!
January 27, 2008 at 5:49 am
I remember the “trees” on Valley Street. I miss them.
They distracted from the overhead visual clutter of wires and telephone poles. Which are more noticeable to me now because I am waiting (still) for them to disappear. I also remember the artist’s renditions in the Town Offices of what the original finished Street Scape was supposed to look like. I was willing to put up with the inconveniences of construction with that ideal as the finished product.
It was a mistake to settle for halfway. It was also a mistake, and a much larger one in my opinion, to set expectations with a completion date that was overly ambitious. I’ve seen these “gentrification” projects some of the other places I’ve lived, and I’ve seen them work well, *after* the pains of construction.
However before the trees were cut down, before the talk of burying utility lines, before all that I didn’t know Scottsville needed to be fixed.
On another note – “New Overhead Telephone line”? I thought those were now all supposed to be going “below ground”.