Taking a tip from Joan of Arc in Laurelhurst
John Teply: Letter to the St Johns Review
Dear Editor,
I think that the way some people are ready to demolish Ivy Island in service to the Farid Bolouri Development is the wrong direction. I think that we have come to take Ivy Island for granted. After all it is this traffic island that we drive by all the time with little notice.
What if we take a tip from Laurelhurst? Just by saying the word “Laurelhurst,” for most people the first, and even the only thing that comes to mind, is the Joan of Arc on the 39th Street Traffic Circle. Without that Laurelhurst would just be part of the blur of neighborhoods on the Eastside, and certainly no one would give thought to the traffic circle. Laurelhurst made their ordinary traffic circle significant and delightful. The first time you see it, it’s totally unexpected and charming and it stays in your mind. It’s something you easily see in our mind when you are someplace else. Where ever you may be, the Traffic Circle places and anchors Laurelhurst.
Could we do something amazing with Ivy Island for St. Johns? If we could it would be a boon for the St. Johns Business District. I’ve always wondered about how remarkable it would be if something as simple as artistically dramatic flood lamps were part of the Ivy Island experience. Banners? Flags? Amazing art? A statue of James John (who is certainly worthy)? Kinda like the Ugly Duckling story, where from a humble beginning Ivy Island transforms into a beautiful swan and becomes a truly valued part of our community. A memorable entrance.
Even today Ivy Island is a lovely entry into community, and it has so much more potential. For whatever reasons you want the Boulori project, I've yet to hear that, aesthetically, driving into a"lovely" four story wall of unremarkable apartments is one of them, as we would have when driving west on Lombard. Or that anyone actually desires, for its own sake, a right turn stoplight into St Johns. Acknowledging how nice the landscaped Ivy Island has become, the Bolouri project is like the Ugly Duckling story in reverse.
There are other options and traffic strategies to the Blind Lombard Curve and the Charleston corner than razing Ivy Island. A lot is going to change these next years as Developers discover our community, and we have little control over what happens. But I think we should try to keep a bit of our historical and traditional St. Johns for St. Johns.
John Teply: Letter to the St Johns Review
Dear Editor,
I think that the way some people are ready to demolish Ivy Island in service to the Farid Bolouri Development is the wrong direction. I think that we have come to take Ivy Island for granted. After all it is this traffic island that we drive by all the time with little notice.
What if we take a tip from Laurelhurst? Just by saying the word “Laurelhurst,” for most people the first, and even the only thing that comes to mind, is the Joan of Arc on the 39th Street Traffic Circle. Without that Laurelhurst would just be part of the blur of neighborhoods on the Eastside, and certainly no one would give thought to the traffic circle. Laurelhurst made their ordinary traffic circle significant and delightful. The first time you see it, it’s totally unexpected and charming and it stays in your mind. It’s something you easily see in our mind when you are someplace else. Where ever you may be, the Traffic Circle places and anchors Laurelhurst.
Could we do something amazing with Ivy Island for St. Johns? If we could it would be a boon for the St. Johns Business District. I’ve always wondered about how remarkable it would be if something as simple as artistically dramatic flood lamps were part of the Ivy Island experience. Banners? Flags? Amazing art? A statue of James John (who is certainly worthy)? Kinda like the Ugly Duckling story, where from a humble beginning Ivy Island transforms into a beautiful swan and becomes a truly valued part of our community. A memorable entrance.
Even today Ivy Island is a lovely entry into community, and it has so much more potential. For whatever reasons you want the Boulori project, I've yet to hear that, aesthetically, driving into a"lovely" four story wall of unremarkable apartments is one of them, as we would have when driving west on Lombard. Or that anyone actually desires, for its own sake, a right turn stoplight into St Johns. Acknowledging how nice the landscaped Ivy Island has become, the Bolouri project is like the Ugly Duckling story in reverse.
There are other options and traffic strategies to the Blind Lombard Curve and the Charleston corner than razing Ivy Island. A lot is going to change these next years as Developers discover our community, and we have little control over what happens. But I think we should try to keep a bit of our historical and traditional St. Johns for St. Johns.