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Health & Fitness

To Be Or Not to Be: Southington Cultural Arts Center at Gura Building

The Gura Building Debacle: Reason or the Roar of a Few!

It may take a performance of Shakespeare's Hamlet on the Town Green to get the answer to the title question... "To be or not to be, whether 'tis nobler in the minds" of Southington citizens to come together and find common ground in search for an answer to the current debacle over the Gura Building as a suitable place for a Southington Cultural Arts Center. 

In his balanced coverage of the Southington Patch story conerning the proposal to the Town Council of a new Southington Cultrual Arts Center in the Gura Building, Jason Vallee managed to present a fair and even representation of a chaotic meeting on this hot issue.

The comments following his story however are amazingly filled with steaming passions to the point of oftimes becoming personal attacks rather than civil discourse.

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Too bad. We're starting to look, sound and smell more like Washington, D.C. with the heat of the shouting so loud that it drowns out hearing. 

It seemed to be set off by one woman in favor of the proposal bursting out of her seat while charging the microphone at the speaker's rostrum shouting at the council. "You're out of order", the chairman stated in a loud voice. But the lady was out of control so she continued in her outburst as she stormed out of the room.

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She may, one would hope, already be regretting her having "lost it" publicly, embarrassing herself more than doing any good. Sad, because this seemed to set off more noise and some kind of altercation between one of the citizens in the audience and the video camera operator.  

It is to be hoped that advocates and opponents of the idea of an arts center in Southington settle down and cool off a bit at this point and give the town council the opportunity to review this hot issue carefully. There really isn't much point in increasing the volume of vitriol and alienation of fellow citizens you would normally accord respect under other circumstances.  Remember, we have to live with each other.

Without a preconceived opinion of the proposal for a Southington Cultural Arts Center being constructed in an upgraded Gura Building, I can see the town council considering the inherent potential libability and other issues that could be advantageous or disadvantageous to the town. 

But, they were elected by the people to study such matters prudently and carefully and not just respond blythely in a knee-jerk response without prudently exploring the potential benefits and the possible negative consequences.

The other side of the coin is that obviously many people have been working in earnest on this project for quite some time, some of them for over a year or more. 

But does that obviate the fact that their may be honest questions, questions that town councilors have an obligation to examine judiciously?  Is one more month or so in a project of this magnitude too much for those whose zeal is so great that they demand urgent affirmation within two weeks! 

Personally, I kind of like the idea of bringing more culture to Southington. And, the idea of it helping to spur our economy is very attractive. So. I hope that the proposal works out favorably after being vetted wisely considering all of the potential upside potential and downside risks as well. 

Careful scrutiny, in my mind, trumps instant gratification. And, the place to meet is in common ground rather than shouting to the rafters from extreme corners. 

More important, let's not allow partisan politics to continue to worm itself into important town issues.  Beware of the perpetrators of partisanship in our community and remember who they are in the next local elections. This demeanor should rule over what is best for the town. 

The right answer is there but it can only be found by reasonable review and dialogue.

Your comments are welcome but please don't beat me and eachother over the head with offensive remarks.

Please connect to The Quest for Common Ground.

 

 

 

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