[link]

“Everything we’ve found is that it’s a horrible experience,” Smith said.

The sad thing is- she’s right. It’s not enough like ice skating and the rinks are usually too small-14 parking spaces- to play hockey (the majority of ice rink use). Making it big enough for hockey would be a pretty serious undertaking and would eat up most of that open space.

Like the way the press always interviews the “Free Mumia” contingent at any large (legitimate) protest- just so they can feel justified in labeling the whole protest “fringe dwellers”- I fear Mr. Haber’s ice rink has given the DDA a fringe to scoff at.. It’s perfect for them.

God bless him for jumping out in front of the DDA runaway train but having to ask the DDA for money (without a fully formed proposal) to get his plan going has left Mr. Haber in a terrible position. Along with all advocates of using that as a public space.

Aaaand I hope I’m wrong because even a plastic ice rink would still be better than a conference center.

Seems like the trick is always figuring out how to keep those whose skills lie in self-advancement, promotion of conflict, aggravation of differences, plain old random or planned trespasses, and the ability to promote their cause, from nudging the social gyroscope against its bearings, sending it off in some unplanned quantum direction that cannot be anticipated by our limited Newtonian understandings……

Who are the graffiti artists, unruly young thugs or protoges of Andy Warhol and promoters of pop art in general? Are they criminals or undiscovered artists whose work should be nurtured and promoted rather than condemned or prosecuted? This is the ongoing quasi-debate among property owners, police, and prosecutors, one one hand, and fine art professors and scholars, and the neo-liberal establishment, on the second hand. Dadaism arose during WWI as a European reaction to rigidly rational and nationalistic sensibilities of that era – and eventually emerged as a movement that spawned other art genres. Graffiti is the expressive art form of the youth counterculture.

Should graffiti have limited First Amendment protection? America has had a love/hate relationship with graffiti for decades. The 1973 Oscar-nominated low-budget silver screen production of George Lucas, “American Graffiti”, thrusted the issue into the vortex of public opinion and elicited the phenomenon into the conscious collective Western psyche.

The progressives of Ann Arbor should focus their energies at discovering the causes of graffiti (perhaps via a blue-ribbon municipal graffiti task force)and channeling the energies of these “artists” into less-destructive pursuits while nurturing their creative abilities.

The article referred to the Library Green’s April 23 presentation at the PAC’s downtown park subcommittee. That presentation occurred in a packed-to-capacity conference room at City Hall. Those who weren’t able to be there in person can see the slide show by going to this scribd posting: [link] or you can see the Library Green’s presentation on youtube: [link]

The Library Green Conservancy hopes that people will use whatever opportunities the PAC offers for public input about open space in downtown Ann Arbor. We can create beautiful, inviting public spaces in downtown Ann Arbor – park, plaza, play area, performance venue…. The possibilities are wide open, but the time for action is limited. If people don’t speak up, these publicly owned downtown sites will be sold to the highest bidder and the chance for a true public open space will be gone.