My Crookston: 2013

A very good article on involving the public in city planning. Personally, I'd like to see the power of trees used to cover up the backsides of buildings downtown.

Others have mentioned a climbing wall. But of course, there is no place for public participation in Crookston, MN.

The Power of Place: On Democracy and Public Participation in Planning | Planetizen

Monday, March 25, 2013

Stop the madness for artificial, fake, expensive, and ugly.

This explains the classic wood window in simple terms. Just adjust the rope pulley as you put the window sash back in. And don't forget caulking every joint except sash joints.

Pull back the curtains to show the finer points of fenestration - SFGate

Monday, February 25, 2013

This is what we need in Central Park in Crookston

This is what we need in Central Park in Crookston: A living piece of man and nature's architecture.

More information on the living cathedral in Norway can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whipsnade_Tree_Cathedral.

Saturday, February 9, 2013

6 Easy Ways to Make a City More Livable | Planetizen

A good article. Quick Read.

6 Easy Ways to Make a City More Livable | Planetizen

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Government Waste and Haste

Tearing down the former “Professional Building” is the biggest example of county government waste and haste yet. Once again, with no plan in place for the empty space, Polk County is determined to tear down a fourth historic building. I think anyone on the street can figure out that if the building was rehabbed into apartments, all those tenants are going to contribute to the tax base and the local economy.

Before the building housed professional services, it was the Villa St. Vincent Nursing Home. Does anyone remember going with Garfield Reichert to sing carols every Christmas to the elderly? Before that it was a hospital which treated Charles Lindbergh’s father, and before that it was the original Motherhouse of the Sisters of St. Benedict and built of the finest materials and workmanship. Names like your grandparents and great grandparents built it, and names like McKinnon, Rasmussen, Stone, Spence, Hagen, Farley, Mercil & Sylvester and many, many more donated to the building of the Addition.

Memories aside, I have heard that the 28,000 (estimated) square foot building has a relatively new roof, and boiler. I’ve seen the leaded glass windows and doors, ceramic tile, hard Maple floors, and the all original Georgia pine woodwork not even painted over! I’ve read about an elevator, and it is built of solid white brick. All in walking distance from downtown! This huge building is three times the size of the Wayne Hotel. What a perfect building to work together with UMC to create an entire live/work space for one of their growing majors.

OK, Polk County, so you own the building; does that mean you can do whatever you want with it? I don’t think so. Where are the facts and figures that led you to this decision? What is your goal here? If you want another parking lot for the Government Center employees, just come out and say so. If you want it off your back, hire a realtor! It will be refreshing to read about your goals in the newspaper or hear about them on the radio. Heck, the County could even have an interactive web site with agendas and minutes written so a lay person can understand them. Explaining your goals and communicating effectively is a much more positive approach than saying NO, you can’t tour the building to “Artspace,” the non-profit housing developer for the arts.

How well I remember sitting in the “hot seat” in the overly formal County Board room being hammered by a newer Commissioner for a plan when I had just handed out a plan to preserve the Wayne Hotel as the “Palace Pavilion.” It was so brutal, I asked what the County’s plan for the empty space was and another Commissioner said “First we take it down, and then we will worry about a plan.” I think that along with understanding how the tax base is decreased or increased, people do understand that planning comes first and not after the fact when it is too late.