Opinion by NIT Publisher Matt Marquardt –
I’ve come around on the sculptures.
They are “OK”.
We are on our third go-around with these downtown “Cultural Crescent” sculptures now. The “seed money” ponied up by you and me to help Chamber of Commerce Queen and city key holder Robin Anderson get this project off the ground is now gone. I still disagree with the taxpayers’ money going into it; she should have raised the seed money privately. The business owners on “Welfare Row” (Moorman, Lala, Anderson, others) that benefit the most from the sculptures could have kicked in the cash instead of backdooring the rest of us to pay for their art attraction. I will never appreciate dirty politics, freeloaders or cheaters.
That being said, I know the sculptures help the rest of the downtown area; it draws some people in. They make the Cultural Crescent somewhat more interesting during the day. And I’m all about a prosperous Mason City as a whole; and therein lies my sticking point: The rest of the city is largely ignored while the downtown is coddled.
But, I digress.
The sculptures look good. Robin seemed kookier than some of the drunks stumbling around town when I saw her first round of sculptures. The red dice were a nightmare and really seemed to promote the nasty vice of gambling. It was like rubbing the town’s face in the fact that we got no casino, but Northwood did, and now they are the ones squabbling over the millions we will never see (thank you, Bible-thumping hypocrites, for the extra nail in Mason’s coffin).
Now that the sculptures are mostly bronze/metallic, they seem classier, kinda cool to look at.
I had a brief chat with one of the volunteers this morning who was helping install the last of this year’s sculptures. She told me how hard she and other volunteers are working to get them installed and look good. And I respect that hard work. People with jobs, or who are retired and contribute/volunteer, are to be admired. If only some of our elected leaders could set such an example.
So, I say, onward and upward with the sculptures; it is a worthwhile endeavor. Just don’t ask me for more cash for welfare row.
