Stop Putting Landmark Status on Every Building in Madison

It's hard enough for developers to build in Madison, because neighborhood associations and aldermen are contentious as hell to everything. What seems to be the best way to further curb development in Madison? Add landmark status to a building.

I am for preserving history, but not everything in Madison is worth preserving! Take a look at the buildings on the Capitol Square. Most are outdated facilities that would better serve the population if they were torn down and/or remodeled. But instead, the Madison Landmark Commission wants landmark status on basically the entire block of North Pinckney Street, which would be better as a new office building or hotel rather than the run-down buildings they are now.

As reported in today's Wisconsin State Journal, a Madison architect wants landmark status on the U.S. Bank glass building, which would complicate or block plans to update the structure. This building needs it badly, with its energy inefficiencies. The plan was even cleared with the city's Plan Commission.

Another building that should be torn down is the old Badger Office Supply store in the 100 block of West Mifflin. That would be another great location for either office space or a hotel, but instead, the Commission wants landmark status.

One last example is the fire-damaged St. Raphael Cathedral. It sat for three years until the Madison Diocese finally had the smarts and courage to order its demolition so the cathedral could begin anew. Guess what? The Commission lashed out, as it wanted to add landmark status to the partially destroyed building (a very stupid gesture). Good response from Diocese spokesman Brent King, who pointed out it was the city which ordered the building repaired or razed: "The ... concerns and considerations of the Landmark Commission could have been brought forward at any time in the previous three years, prior to the city's summons ... or the initial start of deconstruction, however were not."

Madison should be a forward-thinking community, not a hyper-conservative one!

Snow Plowing in Madison a Joke

On Saturday, Dec. 1, the Madison area experienced a situation with snow followed by freezing rain. Madison streets superintendent Al Schumacher told the Cap Times, "If we had plowed the snow Saturday, the freezing rain would have gone onto the pavement, and cars would have been bouncing into each other."

I whole-heartedly disagree with the city's choice not to plow on Saturday. Its inaction resulted in a heavy layer of snow topped with ice, a combination very difficult to plow and shovel. The city should have ordered plowing immediately, as well as spread salt and sand to reduce the effects of the freezing rain (yes, I realize no salt and sand were spread because of environmental issues, but I think the land and lakes can tolerate a little salt and sand in exchange for fewer accidents).

Anyone who drove on Saturday or Sunday knows the results: terrible road conditions, cars plowed in on the streets, ice everywhere. This is unacceptable, especially considering neighboring cities such as Fitchburg had clear roads. Those cities did the right thing in plowing early and often unlike Madison, which relies on late and hardly ever.

One other thing that is maddening: The alternate side parking debacle. I think most people don't follow it because they know the city won't plow anyway. For three days cars on my street downtown have diligently followed this rule, but the sides of the street are still not plowed. Meanwhile, the parking enforcers work hard to ticket people--I just wish the plow trucks would word even half as hard.

Problems at Brittingham Park

For lack of a better term, there are many "sketchy" people that hang out at Brittingham Park (on the corner of Park Street and West Washington Avenue), especially in the shelter. This is definitely not a park you would want to be in when the sun sets (I don't even like rollerblading or jogging through it during the day). I often use the park to play kickball, and I have friends who use it to play soccer, and there's one thing we agree upon: if you have to use the bathroom, hold it! That shelter is gross enough as it is, but the bathrooms are even worse. I have seen the sketchy people passed out in that bathroom, and who knows how many times drugs have been used in them.

There's always a huge police presence at this tiny park, but I don't feel much safer with them there. The Capital Times printed a story today about a homeless person who died in the park. The article goes on and on about neighbors' concerns, especially regarding the number of homeless and drunks at the shelter. One thing the author forgot to mention is that the shelter was the base for a group of criminals to plan out their crimes last summer.

It's sad, but I think they need to lock up the shelter each night at 8 p.m. I know, it's the equivalent of putting a bucket under a leak instead of fixing the leak, and consequently I'm not sure where these sketchy people will go, but any solution is better than no solution.