EDITORIAL: Baby steps toward a safer, smoother Peace Plaza
Feb. 15—On June 4, 2022, the Post Bulletin ran an editorial under the following headline: "Love it or hate it, new Peace Plaza is worth the trip." In retrospect, we're not sure whether we love that phrasing or hate it. It might have been clever, or it might been a little bit on-the-nose.
In that editorial, we argued that the just-completed $19.4 million "Heart of the City" renovations, which included more than $2 million for a 250-foot "A Song for Water" interactive poem in inscribed pavers, might always be a work in progress. A city evolves. Tastes change. Artistic experiments succeed — or they do not.
Our conclusion? "The influence of time and water will ensure that change to 'Heart of the City' will be both necessary and inevitable."
We're not always right, but we sure nailed that one. Less than three years after the initial installation, concerns about pedestrians tripping over uneven pavers and their raised lettering have seemingly forced Rochester leaders to take action.
One could argue that the status quo still should be a viable option. The city did its homework before the installation, including pedestrian tests of the pavers, and there is no statistical evidence that more people are tripping in the Peace Plaza than they did four years ago. But in this case, perception is reality. The pavers do shift and move, and a small-yet-vocal group of people say the surface is unsafe, especially for people with disabilities. Those concerns have resonated, to the point that doing nothing is no longer an option.
Nor is anyone talking about ripping out all of the pavers and covering the plaza with concrete, which would be ugly and expensive — and eventually, it would crack.
That leaves two options on the table. The first proposal, which is slated for a city council vote Feb. 19, would make incremental changes to the Peace Plaza over an extended time. Some of the inscribed pavers would be flipped, so that smooth bottom surface would now be on top. This would widen the smooth, uninscribed "buffer" areas around the central poem pavers. People who want to walk on neither words nor water would have plenty of room.
These changes would be funded through $175,000 in Destination Medical Center funding. Those dollars would also pay for a study to determine what is causing the pavers to shift. Is it unseen runoff from the surrounding buildings? Is it heat from buried water and sewer lines? Utility-wise, there's a lot going on under the Peace Plaza. If a cause of the current problems can be discovered, then future fixes and changes could be made accordingly.
During Monday's city council meeting, however, a majority of members seemed to oppose this incremental approach. They cited complaints from their constituents and pointed out that art doesn't "work" if it is routinely dotted with orange cones and warning signs. They are ready to bury the "A Song for Water" artwork to create an entirely smooth surface. Every inscribed paver would be flipped.
We support the incremental approach.
There's very little risk (and little extra cost) in moving slowly. It makes sense to flip some of the inscribed stones and expand the smooth border areas while the city tries to figure out what's causing the pavers to rise and/or sink. Indeed, if the ultimate conclusion is that this space/environment is incompatible with pavers and pedestrians, then we'd prefer to learn that lesson before all of the pavers were flipped and re-installed.
Erasing "A Song for Water" in its entirety also would be an artistic loss. Indeed, we see some irony in people's eagerness to remove a poem that honors the Native Americans who once lived here and celebrates humanity's physical and spiritual connection with water — the very element that likely is causing the pavers to rise and fall.
So, if you're of a philosophical bent, then the Peace Plaza and its shifting stones are now akin to a river — always in flux, never static. Greek philosopher Heraclitus put it this way: "You can't step in the same river twice." That's a fun way to see the Peace Plaza right now — unless you trip, of course.
Perhaps the current iteration of the Peace Plaza asks too much of a space that sees 6,000 pedestrians each day. Perhaps Rochester over-reached, trying too hard to be "edgy" when it turned the Peace Plaza into an abstract poem.
But perhaps the poem was just a bit too large. Perhaps, as we learn in the Norman Maclean novel "A River Runs Through It," half as many words can have twice the impact.
For now, let's try editing the Peace Plaza. Let's narrow the river of words and see what happens.
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EDITORIAL: Baby steps toward a safer, smoother Peace Plaza
Feb. 15—On June 4, 2022, the Post Bulletin ran an editorial under the following headline: "Love it or hate it, new Peace Plaza is worth the trip." In retrospect, we're not sure whether we love that phrasing or hate it. It might have been clever, or it might been a little bit on-the-nose. In that editorial, we argued that the just-completed $19.4 million "Heart of the City" renovations, which included more than $2 million for a 250-foot "A Song for Water" interactive poem in inscribed pavers, might always be a work in progress. A city evolves. Tastes change. Artistic experiments succeed — or they do not. Our conclusion? "The influence of time and water will ensure that change to 'Heart of the City' will be both necessary and inevitable." We're not always right, but we sure nailed that one. Less than three years after the initial installation, concerns about pedestrians tripping over uneven pavers and their raised lettering have seemingly forced Rochester leaders to take action. One could argue that the status quo still should be a viable option. The city did its homework before the installation, including pedestrian tests of the pavers, and there is no statistical evidence that more people are tripping in the Peace Plaza than they did four years ago. But in this case, perception is reality. The pavers do shift and move, and a small-yet-vocal group of people say the surface is unsafe, especially for people with disabilities. Those concerns have resonated, to the point that doing nothing is no longer an option. Nor is anyone talking about ripping out all of the pavers and covering the plaza with concrete, which would be ugly and expensive — and eventually, it would crack. That leaves two options on the table. The first proposal, which is slated for a city council vote Feb. 19, would make incremental changes to the Peace Plaza over an extended time. Some of the inscribed pavers would be flipped, so that smooth bottom surface would now be on top. This would widen the smooth, uninscribed "buffer" areas around the central poem pavers. People who want to walk on neither words nor water would have plenty of room. These changes would be funded through $175,000 in Destination Medical Center funding. Those dollars would also pay for a study to determine what is causing the pavers to shift. Is it unseen runoff from the surrounding buildings? Is it heat from buried water and sewer lines? Utility-wise, there's a lot going on under the Peace Plaza. If a cause of the current problems can be discovered, then future fixes and changes could be made accordingly. During Monday's city council meeting, however, a majority of members seemed to oppose this incremental approach. They cited complaints from their constituents and pointed out that art doesn't "work" if it is routinely dotted with orange cones and warning signs. They are ready to bury the "A Song for Water" artwork to create an entirely smooth surface. Every inscribed paver would be flipped. We support the incremental approach. There's very little risk (and little extra cost) in moving slowly. It makes sense to flip some of the inscribed stones and expand the smooth border areas while the city tries to figure out what's causing the pavers to rise and/or sink. Indeed, if the ultimate conclusion is that this space/environment is incompatible with pavers and pedestrians, then we'd prefer to learn that lesson before all of the pavers were flipped and re-installed. Erasing "A Song for Water" in its entirety also would be an artistic loss. Indeed, we see some irony in people's eagerness to remove a poem that honors the Native Americans who once lived here and celebrates humanity's physical and spiritual connection with water — the very element that likely is causing the pavers to rise and fall. So, if you're of a philosophical bent, then the Peace Plaza and its shifting stones are now akin to a river — always in flux, never static. Greek philosopher Heraclitus put it this way: "You can't step in the same river twice." That's a fun way to see the Peace Plaza right now — unless you trip, of course. Perhaps the current iteration of the Peace Plaza asks too much of a space that sees 6,000 pedestrians each day. Perhaps Rochester over-reached, trying too hard to be "edgy" when it turned the Peace Plaza into an abstract poem. But perhaps the poem was just a bit too large. Perhaps, as we learn in the Norman Maclean novel "A River Runs Through It," half as many words can have twice the impact. For now, let's try editing the Peace Plaza. Let's narrow the river of words and see what happens.
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