CHRISTMAS IN GRAVENHURST -

THE BARGE YES, AMPHITHEATRE, NO! GRANT MONEY WOULD BE BETTER SPENT ON OVERALL PARK UPGRADES

I am very pleased, as is our family, about the willingness of the town to repair their property…..their (our) asset, of which they have had stewardship for all these years. I do however, object to a bid to construct an amphitheatre on the hillside above The Barge. That will be a costly situation, when you consider drainage and engineering issues, and the reality there are only ten or so concerts each summer. There are cheaper alternatives to accommodate the audiences that attend Barge concerts. Folks have been hanging onto that hillside for decades and I'm pretty sure the accident statistics are pretty low. The discomfort to hind-ends…..so move!

The embankment overlooking The Barge is shoreline, and it is eroding bit by bit. There's not much holding it up. There is a necessity to either plant some low-level trees there, to hold the earth, or make some other structural insertions to stop future decline. I just don't think that has to be inground bleachers, when rock and shrubberies will do the job. The water running off through this soil will require considerable drainage planning, and installations, to avoid a crumbling mess after only a few years of service. The cost, which will be substantial, doesn't seem a responsible investment, considering The Barge attendance, at present, and the ten concerts held from mid-June to mid-August. Unless there's a plan to increase the number of concerts, and use it more than one evening each week. It doesn't take an accounting credential, to figure this to be frivolous to an extreme. Makes a good headline though, if you're short of news.

First of all, The Barge concerts are attracting good crowds. But you have to average them over the season. Having a large turn-out for a particularly popular act, is offset by a smaller turn-out to one that is of lesser interest to general concert goers. I have not seen a crowd there yet, and I do notice this kind of thing, that wasn't accommodated adequately. Even for the biggest shows, there's room to spare. Beside my wife and I, for example. I guess folks don't like the fact I fidget a lot, and appear to be eating all the time I'm there. Point is, with more bench seating, and some much better planning, and visibility improvements, an amphitheatre is like whacking a fly with a sledge hammer. I haven't heard of many people leaving the park, because they couldn't find some place to plop down a lawn chair. There is a pretty large viewing area, and it wouldn't take much tweaking to fit many more in……without opting for the expense of a shoreline amphitheatre.

As for the environment, the idea also isn't all that sensible, as the town will be told, as the idea picks up some glad-handers who want to be part of the big deal at Gull Lake Park. Environmentally, it would be much better to have that filtering earth, root and grass hillside, and some small shrubs, to deal with the run-off water that seeps down that hillside as a matter of topography. Cement doesn't really filter too much. For years, environmental concerns, have brought awareness to natural (as much as possible) shorelines, to help the ecology of the lakeland. It may not seem that a small bit of concrete for seating would be an environmental concern, but it is after all, what we ask of our cottagers, to be concerned about, when re-developing or building their new retreats. They have been told for decades, the relevance of having vegetation at the shoreline…..as natural enhancement that is good for us all. What falls onto the amphitheater, and what is otherwise deposited there, from cigarette butts to all sorts of chemical contaminates, will wash into the lake without the benefit of some, even if its minor, filtering. Which puts that, with the windscape, right into the swimming area of the park.

I don't think anything should be done to compromise that hillside, accept the temporary, and welcome intrusion of concert goers six concerts out of ten. The only time the hillside gets bulked up, is when there is a highly popular act, such as Shania Twin, The Good Brothers, and any concert that happens on the Civic Holiday Sunday……which is simply a high-use time for the park. Seeing as I have been central, as a Barge supporter, attending a majority of concerts each year, I see this speculative fishing trip, for future federal and provincial money, as a waste of council time. A potential frittering-away of taxpayer money on something that simply isn't required, in order for people to watch the weekly concerts. Even if the concerts were doubled, and the season expanded from the 24th og May, to Thanksgiving, I would offer the same advice. Put in more benches, and if necessary, buy some more, and it will be cheaper and better all round, for patron comforts. Some folks don't mind sitting on that hillside as is.

If there is money to spend on Gull Lake Park, improvements should be made to the children's playground, which is way too small and uninteresting, for the large number of families, and youngsters using the park throughout the summer. Keep in mind, that while parents and grandparents are watching The Barge concerts, the kids are either swimming, or at the playground. I think improvements should be made to the washrooms, and building another covered pavilion would make a lot of sense……considering the Rotary pavilion is a busy place on weekends. This was one of the best enhancements to the park and an ongoing benefit to its users……and I have seen many family reunions (get-togethers) under that roof, and this is what gives the park its true comfort character. My wife and I picnic there on many afternoons, throughout the summer season, and can't help but notice a lot of day-travellers, using our park for a respite on their adventures. I love seeing this. The spin-offs for tourism are many. It's a family park, and improvements to make it more accommodating seem a better investment, than carving seats into the hillside.

There was a time when Barge Manager, Fred Schulz and I talked about the potential for such an amphitheater……years before this week's front pager in The Banner. Of course we've always talked about the "what ifs" but have stopped because of the realization that, if there was money, it would be better spent on other Barge or park enhancements……which would still benefit the concert accommodation, even if it was just more bench seating. On reflection however, we found other priorities, and over the past two years, it's been more important to make upgrades to The Barge……and it still is……more so than diverting any money away from the focal point of the concert series. In fact, I would put the purchase of a canopy way, way, ahead of new seating expenses, because with the new plan of, "Rain - No Show - No Re-location," it will be ever-more important to offer temporary shelter to valuable stage equipment, in the event of a short rain period. I'm dubious about this plan…..but I understand Fred's position on the matter. The accommodation at the new recreation centre is not convenient, or large enough to accommodate The Barge shows, as did the original Terry Fox room in the former centre. This should have been considered much more seriously, before the plans for the rec. centre were finalized…..because I'm pretty sure Fred would have offered a learned opinion, from years of experience, that the room, as drawn into the plans, would not be adequate for rain-out re-locations. This would seem, to me, if not everyone else, to have been the kind of sensible planning, and logical consultation needed to accommodate user groups…….some big user groups like The Barge. This room-expansion idea, frankly, would have seemed a much better investment than building an amphitheatre……even with a roof.

I may be accused of being a kill-joy on this, but then I'm only one voice…..one under-read blog. So I'm pretty easy to blow off, as an armchair critic. I'm not on a Barge committee, and I've never once been asked for my opinion. No surprise here. But as federal and provincial grants are "taxpayer-funded," I really don't like this plan at all. As we go into the lost decade, as financial folks call it, I think we need to adapt to a new frugality, and an awareness how capital investments, in this town, have weighed us all down over the last five years…..and will be on our shoulders for many years down the road. Maybe more than a decade.

The Barge is a town asset. It is a proven cultural / recreational positive for our town…….and the nurturing of the tourism industry. But why build an amphitheater, when some benches will do? Unless Fred is bringing in U-2 and I don't know it, then the simple, modest accommodation of the good old Barge will suffice.

Just an opinion from my own Bleachers.