Sunday, September 18, 2011
Traffic To Your Website | Update: Why Was A Pole Put In Front Of The Strand Marquee? Good Question
Posted at: 09/16/2011 12:57 PM
It's not like you can't tell the movies but people in Brockport are upset that a new traffic light pole was installed right in front of the historic Strand Theater marquee.
The problem is a big black traffic light pole right in front of the historic movie marquee.
Even the theater owner can't believe it which is why the marquee now reads, "why was this pole installed in front of our marquee?"
Good question.
"Dumb is the nicest word I can think of to say what it looks like," Anthonyjoseph Rios said. Rios lives in Brockport and walks by the theater almost everyday. "I think this is one of the grandest old towns I've ever lived in. I come from the catskill mountains. What they did here is unconscionable! They took away from one of the historic looks that this town has and that's this old strand theater."
The traffic pole went up as part of the Route 19 re-development project. It's a state job and there's a new pole on every corner at this intersection. One village official admits he just didn't see the problem on paper.
"As a trustee should I have looked closer? I think I've learned a valuable lesson and these are questions that need to be asked," Trustee Scott Hunsinger said. He hopes the pole can be moved before the project is done.
"You're not looking at the sign. You're not looking at the movies we're blessed with having here. But you're looking at the pole first. It's the first thing that catches your attention," he said.
This theater opened in 1900. The marquee went up in 1946. And the first time -- it's not the first thing you see.
"Somebody wasn't thinking and they should pay for it to remove it three feet over," Rios said. "Move the lights over on the pole a little bit and it will not cover the Strand." 03 >
We talked to the theater owner on the phone today. William Yantz says he had no idea this was going to happen. As far as the message on the marquee? He said it was the best way to get people's attention.
Part of the frustration is that the entire downtown is historic and we're told store owners have to jump through hoops just to put on a new door for instance. And all of a sudden, they say, the traffic light pole gets plopped down on one of the main corners.
The New York State Department of Transportation says the did the best they could. They say the current pole is better than the alternatives. The state is sympathetic to the people in Brockport but as far as a remedy -- the state says there isn't one.
For more Rochester, N.Y. news go to our website www.whec.com .