That is probably at least four days more than it took the Joplin Globe to decide it is fully behind the proposal.
The means for financing the expansion were left a bit iffy- a mixture of grants, donations, and wishful thinking appeared to be the plan, but nevertheless, the Globe, which has also supported every proposal these people have come up with, whether it be in their guise as Connect2Culture, or in their other identities as the Joplin Progress Committee or CART (Citizens Advisory Recovery Team) is 100 percent behind this one, even in its birthing stage.
Considering the lack of progress on the development of the tornado-stricken part of the city, you would think the Globe's Editorial Board might be a bit more cautious in its praise of this proposal- at least to the extent of taking a wait-and-see approach.
Instead, it was two thumbs up.
The headline should have said "Spoiler Alert," instead of "This makes sense."
The editorial begins in this fashion:
There is no doubt that Joplin needs a performing arts center. We need a place where the community could gather to view small Broadway productions, national theatrical touring productions, contemporary and classic rock, jazz, dance troupes, opera, and an entire melting pot of the arts like Joplin has not been able to attract for years.
The Globe Editorial Board continues with its praise for the project, noting most tellingly that it will give a jump start to the development of 20th Street.
The editorial ends with this comment:
Yes, we're still a long way from the final vision, but not that far away from opening the curtains on something we think is the solution to a big cultural void in Joplin. We're excited for the possibilities.
The city would be better served with a solution to the big newspaper void in Joplin, but that would be too much to hope for. These people who have attempted to control the city by commandeering the development of the tornado zone, choosing the "proper' candidates for city council and school board, and have provided us with Wallace-Bajjali Development Partners and its well of endless promises have needed a news source to keep an eye on it.
Instead, the Globe has chosen to wave his pom-pons and cheer every outlandish idea that has come down the pike.
This Connect2Culture plan is lacking in details and seems destined to be just another proposal that the taxpayers will pay for, perhaps not in local taxes, but state and federal. Those grants have to come from somewhere.
I am all in favor of more culture for Joplin.
I am also in favor of keeping an eye on Connect2Culture and the Joplin R-8 Board of Education and making sure that tax money is spent wisely and not thrown away on costly ideas that look great on the resumes , but leave the rest of us paying the bills.
9 comments:
Is it too early to begin requesting classic rock acts we'd like to see booked at the new improved JHS Performing Arts Center?
1. War hero and patriot Ted Nugent
2. Country Joe McDonald
Who do you want to see?
Don't set the bar too high there for culture, now. And please, don't put these people that you consider heros where my children are. You can go to the casinos to catch acts like these, and you can have a drink while you watch.
As for the article, Joplin has a performing arts center. It's at the college, where it should be. If this group wants a place to have more than MSSU can handle, then put it in a tornado stricken area that is not already built and where there will not be a captive audience. Should the kids and this group have something going at the same time, there will be competition for parking and resources, and there will be strangers around the kids. But, the "culture" group doesn't get that. They just know it's what the money grubbers and CJ want, so it's good enough, in their minds.
Lady Gaga or Miley Cyrus showing some camel toe or doing some twerking would shock some new culture into these elite folks.
As the great Gomer Pyle would say....
SURPRISE SURPRISE SURPRISE!!!!!
What's the difference between the Memorial Hall proposal list in the article published today in the Globe and what C.J. & Company are proposing? (Globe excerpt:
"Local arts supporters will propose a joint project with the city to explore converting Memorial Hall into a cultural arts center.
The proposal would use the hall as a new location for the George A. Spiva Center for the Arts and a 500-seat theater along with community spaces and meeting rooms.
Boards of several organizations, Connect2Culture, Spiva Arts Center, Pro Musica and the Downtown Joplin Alliance have passed resolutions in support of the effort to study the proposal.")
Another hair-brained fund-raising scheme, complete with yet another ribbon-cutting ceremony, no doubt.
We should start a non-profit to oversee the school district's need for ribbons. A local chapter and a national organization, of course. We could call it "For The Kids", and we could have ribbon-cuttings ceremonies for the ribbon-cutting ceremonies.
Then the Globe could write an editorial in favor. Hadsell could do poorly-staged ribbon-themed magic tricks. I'm not knocking him, as Joel Hodgson once said: "The only thing better than a good magic show is a bad magic show."
Meatloaf!
All the kids have always known..
that the emperor wears no clothes.
But they bow down to him anyway.
It's better than being alone.
Joplin's elitists that need more culture need to dig into their trust funds and stocks and bonds and put the money where their mouths are
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