Beware local politicians that say they have a “vision for the city”. Those visions tend to be very narrow and myopic.
The latest example of that is a battle brewing between the new owners of the former Kmart/Sears building on Koeller Street here in Oshkosh and the City Plan Commission. U-Haul is looking to convert the former store into a business storage facility and truck rental center. This is something the company is doing on a national scale–buying old Sears buildings and converting them to a new use. As a person that lives not far from the site and who drives by it often, I look forward to it being redeveloped and not falling into further disrepair.
Unfortunately, several members of the Plan Commission are threatening to derail the project because U-Haul is going to paint the building its trademark orange. Mayor Steve Cummings told the developers this month that he doesn’t want the building to be a “giant billboard”–while fellow Commission member Kathleen Propp called the color “garish”. Mrs Propp has apparently never been to San Francisco, where the most beautiful and beloved architectural feature–the Golden Gate Bridge–is painted orange. We should also keep in mind the Mayor Cummings is the one that demanded the railroad lift bridge at the mouth of the Fox River be painted because he thought it was “ugly”–not understanding that painting the distressed steel would actual defeat its rust-inhibiting properties and shorten the life of the bridge. The Plan Commission should also consider which is “uglier”–an orange building that houses an actual business or a blighted former big box store that everyone can see from Interstate 41?
U-Haul Wisconsin’s President Justin Kaminski had a great comeback for the Commission–if they don’t agree to painting the building the company’s trademark orange, he will instead have it painted pink. Of course, the color of the building may not matter at all, as the U-Haul is not a retail development and therefore does not fall under the outrageous parking lot requirements the city has for the number of stalls and curbs and bump-outs. That means the oversized, crumbling blacktop lot could be sub-divided for further development right along Koeller itself. Maybe a couple of out-buildings could “protect the eyes” of Mayor Cummings and Mrs Propp from the “garish billboards” of the U-Haul building. Perhaps those out-buildings could be the rumored Dunkin’ Donuts and Kentucky Fried Chicken that nobody at City Hall seems to think meet the “better use” of property along Oshkosh Avenue in the newly created “Corporate Business Park” zoning designation (which, given the “vision” of those on the Plan Commission, will likely result in vacant lots for years to come).
Oh, and back to the Golden Gate Bridge again for a moment. The Government originally demanded that it be painted with black and yellow stripes. Fortunately, those that were actually building the bridge stuck with International Orange.
