Letter to the Editor: Let Pavilion pave way to Parkersburg’s future
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I have been listening to the residents of Parkersburg on both sides of the pavilion issue. This includes multiple in-person conversations, listening to Mayor Joyce and members of city council, and reading the plethora of social media debates. After disregarding the misinformation regarding this project, I am hearing two basic motivations driving the arguments of placement of the new community center. The first motivation is financial. Mayor Joyce and the City Council have clearly outlined the process and reasoning they have used in the decision-making process and show that the new building replacing the existing pavilion will not put the burden of higher tax rates on the residents of Parkersburg. In fact, by replacing the pavilion, a great deal of the maintenance costs of dealing with a 100-year-old building will be eliminated. The second motivation I am hearing is emotional. When you have a public building that has been in place for over a hundred years -- a building that contains the memories of thousands of residents from thousands of different events, there is an inevitable tug at the heartstrings at the thought of tearing it down. Human beings like permanence. And just because something is old doesn't mean you throw it away.
I have gingerly put a toe over the 50-year mark. I'm just a baby compared to the pavilion. When I look in the mirror, it's obvious I'm not the same person I was at 20. My body requires more maintenance. There are some things that I can't do as well at my age. But there are some things I do much better now than I did at 20. As I age, I find new ways to get things done and new activities to replace ones I can no longer do well. I'm aging, but I'm still useful in new ways.
Our community has an emotional attachment to the pavilion, and the pavilion served us well for a century. But it can no longer serve its original purpose. Just because it can no longer function as a building does not mean it's useless. I propose selling memorial bricks taken from the pavilion during the renovation process and creating a walkway or patio in the park. In this way, we are being good stewards of what we already have, recycling materials, which helps the environment, and giving the pavilion a new purpose that will allow our community to hold onto a part of our past. Monies raised from the sale of memorial bricks could be used to help preserve truly historic buildings in our city or to make additional improvements to our green spaces. Let's let the pavilion pave the way to the future.
Sonya Ashby
Parkersburg