The last Council direction was for staff to come up with ideas for use of the building.
No report has come forward yet.
Just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean everybody isn't out t get me.
Sometimes it seems if I put forward an idea ,it can't be adopted for fear I might get credit.
If the idea has merit, Council earns the credit for a positive outcome.
The supreme irony of this Council has been pushing and shoving of grandiose schemes for
maximum credit to particular entities, months of extravagant effort of time and resources and not much at all to show at the end of four years.
This Council started off with the best will in the world . The community has watched aghast while it was all blown on unreal and unappreciated fantasy. Stupid stuff.
My idea was multifaceted. Petch House is the perfect crucible for trying things out.
Apart from toilet facilities and wiring outlets, no further capital cost expenditure is required.
The Seniors have a wood work shop. The town's carpenter is an artisan. A treasure in fact.
Apparently I used the words " tourist centre". I might just as easily have said Visitors Centre. Our population has changed substantially over the years. Families have visitors from other places. They are nearest thing to tourists we will ever see.
Souvenirs unique to Aurora can only be created by artists and artisans encouraged to produce pantings.carvings, small quilts and sculptures .whatever, for a niche market.Maybe the building could be the centre for creative ideas. There is never shortage of talented people only a shortage of opportunity to make a living.
Why is it possible for crazy stuff to win support while practical ideas are destined to wither on the vine?
Monday 12 May 2014
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14 comments:
Here's an idea....
Have local artisans create "Aurora souveniers" in a common location. If only we had such a place.
Wait a minute, we do... it's the Cultural Centre!!!
Yes, we could sell totem poles, moccasins and maple syrup at the Petch House! Maybe some cute bears dressed as Mounties.
Ah, E.... We are not a mere town anymore - we are a big business according to those who purport to know. A multi-million dollar conglomerate without a hotel. Your ideas are far too practical and they do not require nearly enough funding to merit attention. You have to get with the Plan, lean heavily on buzz words such as Visionary, Exceptional and Cutting- Edge. There must be a Big Picture with Capitals. Fab Lab, University Hub, Cultural Leader.....
Too bad they didn't have this conversation BEFORE they blew our money on the Petch House.
If there were no takers then it should have been hauled away to the landfill.
Oh well.
Live and learn.
It is strange that all that crazy stuff that gets so much face-time & studying to death does not get done. The amount of time staff have to spend chasing down just one more bit of information boggles.
At the beginning of this term, there seemed to be some movement towards fixing the old Library land problem. Cllr Gallo baulked - said it needed more study and demanded the motion be changed. Last time the subject came up, the same guy said it was too late in this term and might tie the hands of the next council.
Yes 12:52,
And along those lines, it has to be big enough to warrant government grants, a board of directors, political exposure and gain to regional and especially provincial levels. Any idea should be good for environmental awards, silver medals and plenty of self-serving accolades. You can't do anything just because it is a good practical idea... come on get with the program. What ever you do has to look good in this fall's election brochures and websites. Otherwise what are you doing for (with tongue in cheek).
@ 12:40
Like this could cut into Your business ?
If you have a better idea, could we hear it ?
I know.
Do what they did with the Centre last term and hoped to do with the Fab Lab and the bid with Newmarket for York -
Just gift Petch to some outfit , pay to have it fixed to their desires & continue to provide funding forever.
12:40
I fail to see why you are so defensive about the Centre. I would have no problem if someone with talent from there wanted to help with Petch. The operative word is " help ". Surely there could be some mutual co-operation to minimize costs and accomplish something before the end of term.
Count me crazy, but didn't you, Evelyn Buck, think that the petch house was an insane use of $$$ money...then you supported it?
Please fill me in?
Am I totally crazy or what?
If you think things are bad in Aurora, check into the construction of the BLUENOSE in Nova Scotia, now into its third, I believe, version.
Originally a wooden hulled racing machine, the present venture has her outfitted with a steel hull. This will make her so heavy and ungainly that it will require two people to steer her.
The current cost of upward of $16,000,000 and two years behind schedule. No one has the faintest idea how much more will have to be spent and if it is where its going to come from and when she will be "sea ready."
A story closer to home produced a double page centrefold in the Globe and Mail featuring the rehab man and probable influence peddling. Life in Aurora is really great in comparison.
@ 16:22 et al.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0xRrUVVKigk
17:16
You are not crazy. Once it was clear that Petch House was going to soak up all that money, I think Cllr Buck decided that since they had it on hand, whatever money was available should be spent there because it was dedicated to that purpose.
I am not sure but I believe the options were to use it or lose whatever had been invested and was still available.
Subject to correct.
For 17:37,
Just a bit of correction to your Bluenose II story. The vessel is certainly not steel, it is still a wooden boat. I don't know where you got the idea it's now a steel boat. The original Bluenose (also wooden) was a working fishing schooner that on occasion raced other working schooners from the US. Bluenose II is now considered a restoration and no she is not heavy and ungainly and now requiring 2 people to steer her (although that may be the case of any such vessel in heavy winds). But yes, there have been financial problems.
Thank you 8:58.
The Globe and Mail article by Jane Taber appearedMay 11.
I guess I was thinking of Canada's frigate building program when I mentioned steel hull. Like the Bluenose II these are facing significant delays and cost over-runs amounting to tens of million dollars.
The Bluenose II apparently has a "new steel rudder on the boat so heavy it is nearly impossible to steer, taking two men to turn the wheel.
The once proud and sleek wooden racing schooner - the original Bluenose was featured on Canada's dime - is now tied to a dock in Lunenburg harbour, with no prospect of sailing any time soon.
Mahone Bay shipbuilder, Captain Lou Boudreau, said it's a "lemon." And a former senior provincial cabinet minister, who was involved in the process but wants to remain anonymous, said, "Building wooden ships is not be any stretch of the imagination part of what governments do. What did we think we were doing?"
Meanwhile the costs mount and none knows whether Bluenose II will ever set sail.
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