Citizen Communications PreglerWalter A. Pregler
2966 Shires Ave.
Dubuque, Iowa 52001-8355
(3t9)583-5855
January t7, 2001
Hon. Mayor Terry Duggan and
Members of the City Council
Honorable FHends:
I watch with great excitement, your deliberations on manipulating the
Town Clock Plaza plans.
First of all, let me share with you the reason I voted for closing it in
t967.
First and foremost, the area from 4~h to 9m St. included several
buildings that constituted the largest "fire hazard" in the State of Iowa
at the time. Secondly, we were inundated with a plethora of absentee
landowners who didn~ give a hang about maintaining or updating their
buildings. Thirdly, we had an opportunity to repair streets, utilities and
plan the area to accommodate the later centuries, with Federal funds
and not be required to beg tight wadded property owners for
assessment authorization.
In designing the Plaza, we were anchored with Rosheks(Gamble
Skogmo), J.C. Penny, and Stampfors in the area to spark
redevelopment.
Many things have changed over the three decades, purchasing power
has been restricted by the mega conglomerates such as Wal-Mart,
Target and Kresge. The mom and pop enterprise cannot purchase and
compete. Bigger is better has caught the consumers fancy. Mega malls
are the preferred center to shop. And last but not least, before you
decide to invest public funds into the plaza to open it to traffic,
inventory the number of building permits issued to the downtown in the
past thirty years. The owners are just as tight as they were in the
sixties. This should offer you some clue as to what you can expect in
the fature~ unless you have some commitment from present property
owners,
I have heard Councilperson Ann Michalski tell of placing the Town
Clock on top of a building again. UGHHH. Many fine people, civic
minded citizens of Dubuque, toiled long and hard to raise the money
necessary to construct the tower the clock rests upon. It would be a
fatal blow to their effort to destroy that monument. Move it to another
suitable location, tower and all. Maybe Washington Park?
Lastly, enclosed is an article from Mort. Jan t5's TH about a monument
in Seattle that was destroyed by a thoughtless trucker. If the clock
were left in the Plaza and traffic routed around it, a similar disaster
could occur.
Have fan?
Sincerely; ~-~ ~
Walt Pregler~_~/_~ --
landmark, Pergola, leveled by truck
SEATTLE (AP) -- An ornate cast-iron Department worker stood guard against sou- has stood there for the last century. We're
- it '
going to do everything we.can to restore .
canopy that was one of Seattle'~dandmarks venir hunters.
was accidentally knocked down by a truck "I'm a tour guide down here," said Keith
and smashed to pieces Monday. Perry, manager of Casual Cabs. "Now what
The rear of the truck clipped a corner of
the 91-year-old Pergola before daybreak, po-
lice spokesman Scan O'Donnell said. bio in-
juries were reported. -- ~
~t~sidents gaped as they surveye~l zne
twisted and shattered w~eckagg, which ~vas
roped off with police tape. A Seattle p~irks
am I going to show people?"
Mayor Paul Schell said restoration experts
would examine the wreckage to decide
whether it can he salvaged or will have to be
rebuilt from scratch. :
"! will tell you this:It's a tragedy," Schell
said. "Our first choice is to put back what
The Victorian-style iron and gl~ss struc-
ture, 60 feet long and 16 feet~high, was built ir
1909 as a cable car stop a~d a grand antranc~
to a lavish underground restroom. Ithas be-
come one of Seattle's most famous mgetin{
spots. ' ~ ' ~ '
The truck driver, Pete Benard~:~56, o
Greensburg, Pa., was cited for driving on th,
sidewalk, police said.