Editor: Dr. Michael Stagliano
It is refreshing to note the progress the City of Minonk has made in
the past four years. Parks are now family friendly, the city streets
are cleaner and businesses are beginning to take the incentive to
improve their edifices. Equally important, economic vitality is
beginning to emerge, first with the community center development on
west Chestnut and now with the proposed racetrack north of town.Yet,
progress for the sake of progress is ill advised. With progress must
come a measure of responsibility, planning and foresight. When the city
of Minonk proposed economic development grants for businesses to
improve their facades, the city council should have held a carrot on a
stick to those businesses to conform their improvements to a uniform
curb appealing code of improvement. Many cities do just that. Why not
Minonk? However, the thrust
of this article goes beyond bricks, mortar, and dollars to an appeal to
the senses and common sense. Not long ago the City Council proposed a
beautification project at the Carolyn Development adjacent to the Motel
6. Discussions ensued and it was decided to make improvements to the
pond in order to install a fountain, possibly with lights. On the
surface, excuse the pun, the idea had merit. In reality, the plan was
ill conceived and worse yet, carried out with no thought to
environmental or esthetic concerns. For
those who remember or actually care, the pond or habitat, if you will,
was adjacent to the south side of Motel 6. Actually, the pond, if one
can call it a pond now, was surrounded by 7-foot tall cattails. At the
Southern most tip of the pond was a stand of trees and brush. Mowing
was careful to trim up to but not into the stand of trees and cattails.
It was one bit of nature in the otherwise moonscape of the Carolyn I
and II. After years of trying to get Feeny and Co. to clean up the
area, no thanks to the city, the new owners finally succeeded. Yet,
concrete dominates the landscape in all directions with little, if any
natural vegetation outside of dandelions and mowed weeds.
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Two
weeks ago City crews cleared out and cleaned out the former pond
habitat and plan to line it with number 6 chipped rocks. An
abomination, if there ever was one. A similar feat was
accomplished at the Memorial Park with a small stone lined catch basin,
if you will, devoid of shrubbery or trees. With a little more planning,
common sense, vision and volunteer efforts by concerned citizens and
the Minonk Garden Club, what could have been a work of art is now an
act of destruction unless people step forward to help plan a vision for
this and other projects. What
was the city council thinking? The city destroyed what some
urban, suburban, and other populated forward thinking
entities would have paid thousands of dollars to re-create. All
that was needed was some management of what already existed. What
was accomplished was akin to remodeling with a wrecking ball." Had
they not observed similar water habitats on golf courses in Champaign
and Urbana and even other small towns up and down I-74 and I-57? What
about those natural habitats in some of the more progressive city
malls? They are replete with judicious vegetation and not one hint of
stone. What is wrong with grassing to the water line? Prior to the
destruction of this wonderful natural fixture in the otherwise bleak
landscape of the truck stop there was a habitat that was maintained,
that thrived with wildlife of birds, geese, turtles, and yes, fox. For
the environmentally challenged of the Midwest, I challenge the Minonk
Garden Club, City Council and concerned citizens to come up with a
beautification plan that turns this watering hole into something more
esthetically pleasing than a shopping Mall catch basin. Do not allow
“progress” to come at the expense of esthetics when there easily and
affordably could be a balance. The
future of Minonk is not going to be made by conformity, but by being
different in a good way. We must strive to set our town apart from
others that line the concrete ribbons of commerce like I-39, 57, 55,
and 74. Maybe I’m beating a dead horse, but I've been around the block
a few times and I have seen towns with less do more and we have the
resources and will power right in our community. Let’s tap into our
own, previously silent esthetic resources and give back to our
community, which has given so much to each of us.
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