Victoria council shows disrespect for the city
I write as past president of the Victoria Arts Council. Because I was educated as an architectural historian, I am glad our mayor and council only represent Victoria, because I have imagined them in a city like Rome.
The Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps, attracting both undesirable and welcome visitors, could become a splash park and a water slide, so police could “legally” remove undesirables away from children.
If council wants to change our cultural fabric, how do they love our city? Some people in love partner up so they can “fix” their mate, life partners being their constant “work in progress.”
A “fixer-upper” is not why I love Victoria. What makes our city so attractive to me, to the citizens who worked to build this city, and to our visitors, is why I feel this council should take a crash course in civic cultural memory.
They should learn to love what we are today, to fully appreciate our heritage, and in line with those values, to imagine Victoria, going forward.
The cultural memory of Centennial Square does not exist at the whim of one elected group. The architectural and cultural fabric of Victoria should be respected, enhanced, and loved.
The disrespect this council has shown for Old Town should have been a warning that they would consider removing the city’s most significant public sculpture, a gift from three sister cities, the 1962 Centennial Fountain.
Mayor and council, please show that you love our city, not with planning experiments, not with tall buildings in Old Town, but with respect for the unique city that was here before you were elected, and for the citizens who built and preserved this city.
Please respect and love the Victoria that we, the people of this city, all deserve.
Keep our fountain.
JC Scott Victoria