Tweeting CDM
For awhile, the Port Theater project was going gangbusters. It seemed like it was really happening! Even with the ugly construction fencing, it seemed as if it was coming together.
But apparently, a family crisis has brought the project to a halt. And I understand that, I really do.
But what I don’t understand at all is why the owner wants to keep the ugly fence in front of the building.
Have you seen it this week? Someone painted graffiti on it, and then they tried to cover it with green paint to match the green fence material. It didn’t work. You can see where it says “Tooth” just as clearly as you could when Tooth was white.
I happen to know from sitting in on endless meetings in town that city staff offered to try to get a waiver, to let the owner remove the fence since most of the remaining work needs to be done inside the theater. But the owner, or his team, were not interested. The fence stays up in spite of business owners, residents and city officials wishing that weren’t so.
Construction projects, especially complicated historic theater restorations, take time and money. A family crisis certainly can slow things down. I am in complete sympathy there.
But the fence is an eyesore. Frankly, I’m a bit offended that it could be gone — but it’s not.
By the way, last time I checked on permits and inspections, there was nothing new. No one from the city had been by to make an inspection, but that was within appropriate time frames and so nothing was out of order.
It was almost better when there was scaffold, and plywood boards up in front. At least then we got the cute race car driver poster, the one that says “All The Girls Love Earl.”
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