Photo by Bill Starrels.
Good morning Georgetown, here’s the latest:
- Why a misanthropic approach to historic preservation of the C & O Canal is misguided.
- City exploring setting aside more space for commercial deliveries.
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The Morning Metropolitan
Filed under Uncategorized
Re the debate over “re-doing” the C&O Canal. I don’t agree with either side’s extreme views. I fear attempts to over-stuff the Canal’s course with attractions, which would detract from its beauty and (relative) serenity). The design of the Georgetown Riverfront Park came perilously close to that.
On the other hand, the notion that the Canal should retain a “gritty and industrial” character also is unreasonable. Georgetown long ago converted its industrial district and got rid of the noxious horse-rendering plants, etc. which populated it. We want something better now and current generations should not be prisoners to slavish historical duplication, even as they (and the National park Service) seek to preserve the essence: and the essence is the Canal itself…not its immediate surroundings, which I suspect have constantly changed over time anyway. So I advocate “improvement”, but within limits. In short, a compromise (hopefully not a totally “dirty” word in our current epoch)