A South Side Speedway plays opera 24/7. Is it to deter loitering and is it working?

Dean Narciso, The Columbus Dispatch
·4 min read

As Mike Hudson organized accumulated junk in his car's front seat, Giuseppe Verdi's "Nabucco" blasted from speakers at the gas station across the street.

Cutting through the noisy intersection at South High Street and Obetz Road, the female vocalist's "falsetto" was a startling soundtrack to an otherwise normal morning.

The opera recounts the plight of the Jews as they are exiled from their homeland as a backdrop for a romantic and political plot. But at this blue collar intersection, the highbrow infusion of culture is possibly being used as a deterrent to loitering at the Speedway gas station, 3860 South High St.

While employees here declined to comment, it's a remedy that other Speedway and 7-Eleven stores elsewhere say helps to curb loitering and vagrancy.

R.J. Roscoe, who said he's homeless and sells goods from his shopping cart, said he loves the opera music being blasted through speakers at the Speedway at South High Street and Obetz Road. While employees there declined to comment, it's a strategy that other Speedway and 7-Eleven stores elsewhere say helps to curb loitering and vagrancy.
R.J. Roscoe, who said he's homeless and sells goods from his shopping cart, said he loves the opera music being blasted through speakers at the Speedway at South High Street and Obetz Road. While employees there declined to comment, it's a strategy that other Speedway and 7-Eleven stores elsewhere say helps to curb loitering and vagrancy.

"I personally think it's subliminal messaging of some sort," said Hudson, who lives about a quarter-mile away and said he likes all genres of music except for one. "If it was bluegrass I'd probably sneak over there and cut their wires."

Within about 20 feet of the four, building-mounted speakers, the aria is uncomfortably loud. At night, Hudson said, "I hear it better than I do the traffic."

A Speedway manager declined to take questions about the use of music, referring callers, including The Dispatch, to a customer service number. Management did the same for inquiries on its website, using a prewritten referral to Speedway's customer service office.

Inside, the music from outside can barely be heard.

When a reporter asked a cashier, who declined to be named because they weren't authorized to speak publicly, what customers have said, they responded, "They first ask me 'What the (expletive?), the cashier said. "When we tell them, they want to know more about it."

That's music to the ears for those whose job it is to promote the classics.

"I love to hear that," said Columbus Symphony Orchestra CEO Denise Rehg, whose repertoire includes opera. "I think that if good music acts as a deterrent and they think it's keeping people away, it still benefits everyone involved if they're listening to it. Anything that brings it out there brings a smile to my face."

There have been similar attempts to repel loitering around convenience stores in cities in California and Pennsylvania, deploying various musical styles, all played loudly. There also have been physical barriers.

Timothy Armour said he loves the opera music being blasted through speakers at the Speedway gas station at South High Street and Obetz Road.
Timothy Armour said he loves the opera music being blasted through speakers at the Speedway gas station at South High Street and Obetz Road.

In October 2019, Columbus construction crews replaced a smooth wall that homeless people sat on near Broad and Third streets with jagged flagstone. And before that, workers installed metal dividers on Downtown benches so that people couldn't sleep on them.

Read More:Homeless get design's message of hostility

By comparison, sonic intervention might seem less offensive to some.

"What I think would be crueler would be punk or acid rock," Rehg said. "They must have chosen opera for a reason. I would think there'd be crueler sounds than opera."

And to some, the strains of Maria Callas, Luciano Pavarotti or Andrea Bocelli, also heard here, are downright pleasing.

Dave Bush, a retired laborer who was leaving a nearby restaurant, said he'd prefer country or rock tunes at that volume. But, he confided of the opera, "After awhile it grows on you."

"I can tell you I like the music," said Timothy Armour, who was outside the station on a recent weekday. "It's very soothing. It's very magnificent.

"I come here just to listen to the music. I get some of this music in my system and it relaxes me and just have a great day."

One woman filling up, however, though differently.

"I actually hate it," she said. "It makes me depressed."

If the goal is to discourage loitering, is it working? Locals say they haven't seen as many panhandlers here lately.

R.J. Roscoe has been homeless for five years and was recently pushing a shopping cart with a trunk filled with items for sale outside the station.

"I love this gas station," he said. "They're all kind to me."

He quickly left with his cart after no one bought anything.

Chad McLean was outside the Bob Evans restaurant next door waiting for a friend inside recently.

"I hate when I get out of the car and someone asks me for change. I mean, go get a job," he said. "Maybe it's working."

dnarciso@dispatch.com

@DeanNarciso

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: A Columbus Speedway plays opera nonstop. Is it to deter loitering?