DB: Classified and Stereotyped

Dear Mr or Mrs Tollefson,

You may remember that I recently sent you a letter claiming that it was impossible to have fun in your park. I am writing you this letter to refute that statement, based on the fact that this weekend I attended a concert during an event that included the Plaza grounds, and standing there bobbing my head to the deft beats and syncopated shrill pitched tweets and whirls created by the Helio Sequence, it dawned on me that I was indeed standing in Tollefson Plaza and I was actually having a good time.

I took this picture to show the amount of people that attended, it must be the most that have ever been in the plaza at one time. Based on the smiles on the faces of the people, it is my opinion that I was not alone in my enjoyment of the event.

For the most part I am usually discouraged by Metro Parks attempts to “activate” this space, but as I have stated, this past Friday night was a success. There was a beer garden top section of the park and the weird step things surrounding the trackside edge made some stadium like seating for those folks that didn’t want to stand in front of the stage. More than once, however, I was distracted by vehicles passing by on Pacific Ave behind the stage, it muddled the sound and stole from the ambiance, but one can’t have everything and for the most part the concert was enjoyable.

I do not retract my previous statements surrounding the typical daily un-usability of the Plaza that bears your name…but it seems that with a little planning and enough money to hire a good band, your Plaza is a decent place to watch some rock and roll.

Somehow the powers that be were able to manipulate the new sound ordinance law in order to structure the event, but I’m not complaining because its nice to know that rules can be broken, the band was nice and loud.

On a side note: Whomever was hired to come onto the stage after the event should be pulled into an office and had a serious talking to. She said something to the effect of, “Thank you for making Showcase Tacoma the Hip and Indie festival in Tacoma.” I could almost hear my peers cringing at being labeled such demoralizing and offensive things. There is nothing “hip” or “indie” about being classified and stereotyped, thanks “Mom”.

Perhaps there should be a permanent stage erected on the street side of the Park, It would need to be powered and covered, but a summer concert series may be the only way this blot of concrete will ever come to contain life.

Your concerned park goer,

db