Tuesday, April 08, 2008

Disgraceful

I drive by this eyesore on Independence Ave. everyday. I never knew what it was...I just knew it was fugly.


(as always, click the pics to embiggen!)



I finally decided to stop and investigate.


The main inscription says

"Memorial to Veterans of the World War"

"Inter City District"

Now, I can't tell if by "Inter City" they mean the Greater Metro Area, or the Inner City. But whichever group of veterans they are referring to, the fact that The Powers That Be would let it lapse into such a sorry-ass state of delapidation for so long is an insult to the very veterans it is supposed to honor.

I mean, look at this...


...and this...


It kind of looks like an active construction site, but I have never, ever seen anyone working on it. For at least 3 years, it has looked exactly the same.

Let me give you an analogy.

If you go to a restaurant and don't leave a tip for the waiter, he can rationalize it. Maybe you never give tips. Maybe you forgot. Maybe it's a religious thing.

But if you leave him a fucking nickle...that sends a message.

Letting this memorial to WWI and WWII veterans languish in decay sends a message.

Who ever owns and "maintains" this memorial needs to fix this disgrace immediately.

9 comments:

kcmeesha said...

This is WWII memorial in my city in Ukraine, Eternal flame, Guards, etc.It's a "Monument to the Unknown Soldier".We always went there because no one knows where my grandfather was killed and buried.

Xavier Onassis said...

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and claim "that's nicer".

Anonymous said...

Thats sad XO. I mean tearing the monument down for urban renewal or some sort of "progress" would be bad, but this neglect is worse.

Meesha thanks for sharing, that is beautiful.

Anonymous said...

I hope there's a tragic story behind this; something poetic. A legless patriot drags himself to and from a quarry hundreds of miles away and labours at this monument a stone at a time.

I hope it's something like that.

I'll bet it's not though. I'll bet it's more a thumb of the nose that started as lip service and fell off of the agenda once a council member was voted to Midwestern oblivion.

I do tend to dwell on the positive however.

Trelvix said...

BBQ pit maybe? Wonder if it's just really subtle performance art.

FletcherDodge said...

Great job, XO, for identifying this problem and bringing it to the attention of 6 people.

I'm sure that your act of taking pictures and posting them on your blog will have a huge impact and get this insulting disgrace remedied in no time.

The Steve that everyone likes said...

This is certainly a shame. I hope they take steps to make improvements. For you you say, this project has been moving slowly.

Anonymous said...

Does the "memorial" belong to the City of Independence? I'd check it out and shame them into doing something about it. Don't be too nice - nothing will happen. Maybe call the local rag and get them on it.

Total disgrace.

Happy In Bag said...

What's the deal with Emaw?

Nice work, XO.