Your daily Letter to the Editor — Nov. 7, 2012
Wikimedia Commons | Text by Dan
‘Taubman dream’ column stinks
Thank you, Messers. Dalhouse, Porterfield and Turner, for your illuminating commentary, “Parody can be useful; disrespect never is” (Nov. 1).
Several years ago, Dan Casey took on a Roanoke institution, the Texas Tavern, and its owner, Jim Bullington, in a hatchet job of epic proportions. Now he decides to take on two Roanoke icons, Heywood Fralin and Nick Taubman, in his column “Dream a little dream of the Taubman” (Oct. 28). And for good measure, he throws Jenny Taubman under the bus.
The Taubman Museum of Art is an invaluable asset to Roanoke, and may one day be a destination attraction.
For Casey to ridicule the two men who did so much to make it happen is abhorrent. Satire has its place, but this was mean-spirited drivel.
Does the Taubman Museum have problems? Absolutely. Are they fixable? You bet; and with the leadership of Fralin, Nick and Jenny Taubman, Warner Dalhouse, Bittle Porterfield, James Turner and many others in the Roanoke Valley, it will be fixed.
And, for what it’s worth, I like the architecture.
Frank T. West
MONETA
November 7, 2012 - 1:30 PM
The Taubman Museum looks like a space ship that landed in a poor section of 1040′s town. At least they could put a fountain out front for the homeless to wash out their socks and dirty underwear. Al least they would be drawing someone other than flies and rats.
I personally enjoyed the article, lots! Dan hits the nail on the head, the entire venture is a vanity project. It’s a shame that what should be a cornerstone of the Roanoke art community is instead a mega-phone to lift up a few citizens. The focus shouldn’t be on any of those individuals, it should be on the artists and the region. Their irresponsibility and short sightedness has hurt and disenfranchised many local non-profit employees and created a funding vacuum for other organizations. Hard to gain support when you are hiring and laying off already underpaid employees, over and over again.
Don’t get me wrong, I am a member of the museum and attend nearly every event. That’s for the work, not the benefactors. But, those great Roanoke business men are not there for the right reason. And Jenny Taubman is mean. I’ve witnessed her parking her car in the middle of the road, walk into a restaurant, throw her keys at an employee and command them to handle parking her vehicle. That type of behavior certainly doesn’t make me think highly of her and most definitely will not bolster any kind of sympathy or support.
Rant over.
Solution? Wrecking ball.
For those who complain about the Taubman, I say why not give it a chance. There are several excellent exhibits there now, including one of an acclaimed local artist, Harold Little and a photography exhibit “chronicling the production, distribution and use of oil”. It is extremely interesting. Give it a shot, I am by no means a student of the arts but found my visit very enjoyable.
I too like the architecture. I told visiting relatives there was much to do about the building because it did not blend in with the existing architecture downtown and their reply was, “What architecture?”
Transform the Taubman into an indoor, public shooting range. These great men, the pillars of Roanoke could make donations to supply free ammo. Keep the diner and let it serve Texas Tavern fare.
taubman is a joke
Crooked Road
I believe you have proposed this solution before, no? For what it’s worth, I think you are right. The wrecking ball is the final solution. Or maybe we can ge a conceptual artist to create a micro black hole that swallows up the Taubman and then disappear. That would be cool.
Does the Taubman Museum have problems? Absolutely. Are they fixable? You bet; and with the leadership of Fralin, Nick and Jenny Taubman, Warner Dalhouse, Bittle Porterfield, James Turner and many others in the Roanoke Valley, it will be fixed.
And, for what it’s worth, I like the architecture.
Frank T. West
MONETA
Obviously, Frank West is in a disillusional state like all those he mentions above…..He says, “It will be fixed”…..Well why doesn’t he and all those who had this fairy tale building built…..Tell the little people of Roanoke, just how they plan to fix it? It’s been broken the day the doors opened, and most likely will be broken until the doors close. I happen to be a great fan of modern architecture, such as Frank lloyd Wright, but this monstrosity never belonged in what is the Historic district of our city…..Grand Home Furnishing gave the Art Museum its former building. It should have used it, but these fine gentlemen of Roanoke sold the city on its pipe dream and scheme and they bought it lock, stock and barrel. When the doors eventually close, what entity would take over a building that cost three million to maintain annually? This city has screwed up the Market Building, Torn down our historic 25,000 seat stadium, tax breaks for the doomed to fail Ivy Market, now destroying our Historic Elmwood Park, and how many millions going into Center in the Square with a roof top restaurant…….The Market area is always filthy, disgustingly dirty, with trash and garbage piled along the streets daily and they are yet to put more money in re-doing the market square vendor area. I’m curious how much will a hot dog cost when the new Weiner stand opens? An arm and a leg like food within the Market building? And now Event Zone may pull Festival in the Park out of Roanoke and God knows what else and we are re-doing Elmwood Park for What again? Other than $6 million with one million going under ground…..And this makes the park a destination for everyday use…..Talk about screwing the citizen of Roanoke…..But remember, a city manager sole purpose is to pad his resume with capitol projects like Darlene Burchum did, leave us deeply in debt.
E Duane
Why don’t you tell us what you really think?
hey E. Duane,
I think your post is spot on the mark. Unless and until the citizens of Roanoke manage to elect fiscally responsible leaders, they will continue to get the leadership they deserve…which comes rife with expensive boondogles at the expense off the poor.
Dear Old blue….well…..I gave some thought to it….did I miss the mark….LOL….If I told the gut truth, probably would be banned and the paper would not publish me anymore….I know many don’t like me for speaking my mind, but I only do it because I love Roanoke and love its potential.
I agree, Scott Whitaker. Roanoke deserves the occasional building that doesn’t look like some repurposed deserted 1934 office building.
I think E Duane said it quite well! The City of Roanoke wants to dictate to private homeowners what type of roofing materials, what type of siding, decking, windows, and doors that are “allowed” in historical districts. They want to keep the “old atmosphere” historically correct. And then, PLOP comes this ugly abortion right into the main entrance to the downtown area. “Pure genius at it’s best!”
Some people have the vocabulary to sum up things in a way that you can quickly understand them. This quote came from the Czech Republic. Someone over there has it figured out. It was translated into English from an article in the Prague newspaper Prager Zeitungon on 04.28.2010.
“The danger to America is not Barack Obama, but a citizenry capable of entrusting a man like him with the Presidency. It will be far easier
to limit and undo the follies of an Obama presidency than to restore the
necessary common sense and good judgment to a depraved electorate willing to have such a man for their president. The problem is much deeper and far more serious than Mr. Obama, who is a mere symptom of what ails America . Blaming the prince of the fools should not blind anyone to the vast confederacy of fools that made him their prince. The Republic can survive a Barack Obama, who is, after all, merely a fool. It is less likely to survive a multitude of fools, such as those who made him their president.”
Today is a sad day, but thank goodness gridlock will be the order of the day.
Sorry to be so skeptical, but given our history on big money projects today news fits right in here……The 27 million re-make of center in the square and they have just announced they’ve hired a care taker for the Butter Fly Collection….Taking bets on how long he’s here before moving on. We can’t keep a Zoo Director..
I love it. Everytime I see it, I am reminded of the rubble after 9/11, frozen in time like a reminder to settle one old score, one small point of pride.
great post kendra
So, Kendra, a few minutes of searching reveals this information:
“The paragraph first appeared on the web on December 19, 2009 at professoroflife101.blogspot.com.”
Further, there is no Prager Zeitungon newspaper. The Prager Zeitung, which is a German newspaper, is NOT the source of the quote. Please STOP spreading this misinformation.
Look here for the archived version. Original has been shut down.
http://web.archive.org/web/20101020192059/http://professoroflife101.blogspot.com/2009/12/this-is-frightening-time-for-america.html
Interesting that the guy claims to be a professor, but his usage is poor.
Yes Kendra, great post of right wing lies! Way to carry the water.
“…First of all, thanks for your E-mail via Facebook. You are already the second American asking us for the alleged article in Prager Zeitung about Barack Obama and American Citizens. I confirm with all emphasis that such an article never (!) appeared in our newspapers. First of all, we are not at all writing about American politics. … Furthermore, Prager Zeitung does not aim to insult, judge or discriminate against people of our or another country. Therefore, an article like the one you mentioned would never have appeared, not even as a comment or opinion article, because it is dismissive and absolute nonsense. … Also, we would like to know where you got this false information from — to avoid any further spreading.”
http://www.hdnews.net/opinionstory/Hooper051812
For those who dislike the arhitectural design of the museum, take solace in knowing 99% of the rest of the downtown buildings adhere to your square and rectangle desires.
Your candidate lost, Kendra. Get over it, and stop passing along your idiotic RW email crud.
Dylan, I am ambivalent about the design, but it seems to me the museum’s ideal site would be one with some surrounding open space. Maybe set among some rolling hills. In its present location, it looks like it is shoehorned in where it doesn’t belong.
I can see that, old blue. And also, they shot themselves in the foot by building over and eliminating any parking specifically designed for the museum.
#15: E. Duane, please keep in mind that we are a mid-level market, and to the extent that we get or develop workplace talent we can expect some of the best talent to often eventually leave for other challenges. It serves no purpose to denigrate the zoo or any other civic endeavor on the basis of ordinary turnover, much less career mobility created by success here.