Too small for Taylor Swift. Too big for intimate performances. Is $275M music hall needed?
Do we need all that hard, cold, steel and glass?
As I looked at the pictures of the new Ohio State University hospital and concert hall, it struck me that the powers that be care far more about buildings of hard, cold, steel and glass honoring the wealthy legacies than to serve the folks who are supposed to benefit from them.
More: $50 million Wolfe gift helps massive Ohio State Wexner Medical Center tower become reality
Looking at the new hospital is a chilling experience.
It is about as welcoming as any giant corporate headquarters. Personal experience at OSU in times of illness has taught me that “feats of engineering” are cold, scary, stressful, and frustrating.
Miles of walking from a distant parking lot, long lines to get checked in, and hordes of people make the idea of going there terrifying, especially when sick. No amount of steel, glass, picture windows, or 75’’ TV’s offer me the warmth, or comfort I crave when I am ill.
More: Columbus Symphony pitching massive $275 million music hall near COSI
Who do they think will appreciate and attend classical musical concerts in a $275 million music hall in the future? We don’t have enough money in education to teach the arts, especially music.
Without a solid grounding not many of our children will not even know, understand, or enjoy the classics. It is too small for the monster Swift-style shows and too big for intimate performances.
What happens to it when it is sitting empty for months at a time?
Has Columbus forgotten that the city’s best attributes are its friendliness, welcoming and caring for each other, not expensive architecture that ignores what we truly need? Our humanity.
Melissa L. LaVanchy, Columbus
Small is better
Re "50M gift to help fund OSU medical tower," Feb. 20: The massive new Ohio State hospital is a gigantic expensive monstrosity built for yesterday’s medical care. As a patient I much prefer a smaller patient centric center closer to home that is geared to individualistic attention instead of a massive edifice where millions of germs can congregate under one roof.
Michael Oser, Columbus
What do you think? How to submit a letter to the editor for The Columbus Dispatch
The meaning of 'primary means'
Re "It's 'raining' in Ohio. Where is our money?" published Feb. 22: David Hill writes: " I remind Ohioans that the Ohio Supreme Court has ruled funding schools with property taxes is unconstitutional" in his letter to the editor. This misunderstanding has been circulating since DeRolph v State was heard by the Court in the 1990s.
The Opinion of April 25, 1997 says: "May local property taxes be used as any part of a funding solution? The answer is 'yes,' but property taxes can no longer be the primary means of providing the finances for a thorough and efficient system of schools."
What does "primary means" mean and does it applies on a by-district basis? That property taxes can provide no more than 50% of the funding?
Of the 606 school districts reported in the Cupp Report from the Department of Education, 25% get half or more of their funding from local sources. Statewide, local funding for schools is $11 billion while state + federal funding is $12.3 billion. So, the local funding is 47% of the total, and would pass the court's test.Then there is the reality that even if the court in some future decision ruled that it is unconstitutional to fund the schools with property taxes, the schools still must be funded.
If not with property taxes, then what?
Paul Lambert, Hilliard
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Music Hall would be too small for Taylor Swift. Does Columbus need it?
