A horned toad and a grasshopper.
I think it is just great these fun metal creatures popped up in Centennial Park on South First Street.
Those in positions of authority in the city say they don’t know where they came from, nor do nearby merchants.
Whoever saw fit to create these pieces of art and place them in the park deserves a big thank you. In my opinion, our parks could use some beautifying.
Centennial Park, which is just south of Walnut Street, does generally look pretty and nice. Permanent structures were built there several years ago. The tiny butterfly park — next to the railroad tracks at First and Chestnut streets — is pretty, but the location isn’t ideal. I mean, who wants to take a short leisurely stroll by the tracks? It’s just not very scenic.
Staying downtown, there are those unfortunately named bump-outs at the intersections. I’ve yet to adjust to driving around them, but they do add natural beauty to an area otherwise dominated by bricks and concrete.
After that what do we have? Mostly sports parks. And there is nothing wrong with that, but at best they are green. Pretty doesn’t enter the picture. It is all designed to be utilitarian.
I don’t like it one iota when Rogers is behind Bentonville in anything, but we are dragging way behind when it comes to beautifying. Have you seen their parks? They have really made an effort to pretty them up with landscaping and structures.
My friend Ed has complained vociferously about this for the last couple of years, but those complaints seem to have fallen on deaf ears.
And think just for a moment about entry ways into the city. There is only one word to describe them: ugly. OK, two words: beyond ugly.
Poorly designed ugly signs announce a person’s arrival into Rogers. No flowers, no shrubs. Just ugly signs.
Rogers is not an ugly town, so why do we want to greet guests in this way?
Returning downtown, entry into our historic district is pretty sad, too. No signs, no landscaping.
We have a classy City Hall building, but the lack of landscaping is an embarrassment.
See a trend here?
It’s not that Rogers can’t afford beautification, I really think it is a case of the deciders — to use a George W. Bush term — have no eye for beauty, or they don’t care. Whichever is the case, it is a sad state of affairs.
Kathy, another friend, recently brought up what she thinks is a great idea: building a botanical garden at Lake Atalanta and including a greenhouse where plants for city beautification could be grown.
After I stopped laughing, I reckoned how I thought it was a grand idea; not going to happen, but a grand idea.
I have said before that I think the lake is an ideal location for a botanical garden. I would like to be proven wrong, but here is what I expect to happen at Atalanta: the lake will get a needed dredging. Plans will be drawn that will include trails.
And then, you ask? Nothing.
There is a limited amount of money earmarked from the last bond issue for Lake Atalanta improvements. Additional work would have to be appropriated from the general fund. That could happen, but it hasn’t so far. That could lead one to believe no one in city government sees Lake Atalanta as a priority. I don’t think that is true, but it certainly has the appearance of being so.
And while we are on the topic of beautification, John Gore reported that a Main Street committee is working on a public art policy for the city. It’s about time.
We need public art. Again, we are behind Bentonville. It’s pitiful.
We should encourage appropriate public art to dress up public buildings and parks.
Art and beautification are absolutely necessary if Rogers wants to live up to the phrase “The Good Life” — which just happens to be the name of the publication the Rogers-Lowell Area Chamber of Commerce distributes annually encouraging people to come to Rogers.
So what’s it going to take to beautify the city? Maybe someone on City Council should accept this as a challenge. One of them could surely lead the effort.
More likely, it will need to be volunteers. Volunteers have always gotten things done in Rogers. It doesn’t seem this situation is any different.
Rogers is a great city — let’s make it a great, beautiful city.
LEEANNA WALKER IS LOCAL EDITOR OF THE ROGERS MORNING NEWS AND THE SPRINGDALE MORNING NEWS. FOLLOW HER ON TWITTER AT WWW.TWITTER.COM/NWALEEANNA