To the editor:
Many have good cause to be spooked by the proposed Cultural District. An implicit promise in the acquisition of the Cedar Street property and river frontage was to protect this extraordinary and irreplaceable ecologically sensitive land for public use and from private development and commercial use. So, when the Cultural District Coalition signals a shift from gentle use and preservation to adding infrastructure, landscaping and new programming — even in the name of a community benefit — it can feel like a betrayal of the expectations of some who supported the acquisition. Skeptics fear the Coalition will define “new programming” to include high intensity, high impact programming and that the “community building” will include use as a revenue generating rental hall: a “nuisance factory” turning a quiet neighborhood into an event zone, with intermittent bursts of intense activity, traffic, noise and disruption. If so, then calling this a ‘cultural district’ is nothing but a Trojan horse for development that doesn’t belong next to homes. Over programming and over building will consume open space, pollute the river, destroy the green infrastructure, fragment habitat, and overwhelm the natural qualities of this beautiful property. The Master Plan must be written to keep “culture” from becoming a loophole for overbuilding, by hard-wiring restraint, preservation, and respect for the land and neighborhood into zoning itself. We are asking the Coalition leaders to think long-term, tread lightly, and protect what makes this place special.
Susan Patton Maple City
