Historical Society needs seat on Calanan Park Committee

Your view: One of my favorites comments, of all those being bandied about, is regarding the “water cannon” (to those of us who know better, the hydraulic monitor) and how there was no way it would feng-shui!

I had the opportunity to attend, yet another, clandestine meeting at city hall on Thursday, July 22nd. It seems the fate of our small town is always in the hands of a select few, with no one else ever even asked if they would like to participate.

 Citizens and business owners be damned! Evidently this current “committee” has the complete eradication of Calanan Park, as we now know it, as their project.

  A new and improved (?) model is in the offing. The only debate amongst this group, regarding a total clear cut, is whether the large Sequoia, adjacent to the parking lot by the Bank of America, should remain or be included. Per this committee, they state that nothing is exempt or safeguarded in their plans. Not only does this include the trees, but also the artifacts pertaining to our rich historical mining heritage. It was stated that there has never been a plan for

Calanan Park and that it has been used for a kind of "dumping area" for items in it.

 One of my favorites comments, of all those being bandied about, is regarding the “water cannon” (to those of us who know better, the hydraulic monitor) and how there was no way it would feng-shui! This is to say nothing about it being a horrible symbol of our past.

  Let's see, it was the main reason for the first piece of ecological legislation being passed. The core sample is felt not to fit in, as it represents hard-rock mining, and anyway, it is from Grass Valley! Looks like we may have to get rid of the Pelton Wheel in Robinson Plaza and other artifacts throughout town, as they are also “imports.”

  Don't you just love these types of people that feel history should be subverted, or at least completely sanitized. Guess if these people had their way it would be so long to the coliseum in Rome, the Great Pyramids in Egypt, the Great Wall of China, and Hadrian's Wall on the border of Scotland.

 Just look at what they represent as examples of a select few people’s inhumanity to those who both had to build them and for, most of these, the consequences of their use! We have witnessed more than a couple of previous plans and remodels of the park during our brief 40 plus years as residents.

 One of the proposals is for the new and novel idea of a lawn. Seems to me that the city went to great expense, again squandering our hard-earned tax dollars, back in the 1990's laying down sod that never saw the end of its first season due to the damage done to it.

 Only a guess, but this scheme seems to have evolved out of the continual debate over those users of the park. The rational appears to be, it would be better to kill the patient rather than administer the cure! Has anyone ever tried to obtain permission to remove even one little tree from “their” property? It's nearly impossible and takes the equivalent to an Act of Congress, but here is a proposal

to sacrifice approximately 20 established trees ... Many of them, along with the artifacts, donated by civic-minded groups and citizens!

 Trees and Mining Artifacts in Nevada City? It reminds me of that old slogan,

"Farms in Berkeley?" And where do you think those who now congregate at the park will go? Hmmm!

   Robinson plaza is a close move, so is the tree-shaded area next to the Foley Library, or even the nicely landscaped area of the Commercial Street parking lot! I guess in the future, we can refer to Calanan Park as either the “Kalahari of Nevada City” or, due to all the proposed concrete, “Calanan Skateboard Park.”

   But let's all look at the bright side, with all those real trees gone, what a great opportunity to replace them with one of those big “beautiful” steel trees for telecommunications ... "Can you hear me now?" And just look at that huge blank wall of the old Alpha building, we can have a mural welcoming everyone to 'Nervana City!'

   A continuing question is, why is it not mandatory that the Nevada County Historical Society be asked to sit in on ALL items pertaining to the historical integrity of Nevada City?

 The fight is on to preserve our heritage. Let's not “Roseville Nevada City” or worse “Carmel-ize” it. After all, we are “The Queen City of the Northern

Mines.”

Gary J. Stollery

Nevada City resident and business owner