Joy of
Repainting
Posted on 02/07/2006 9:41:45 AM PST by Abathar
NASHVILLE, Ind. -- Officials in the rustic southern Indiana tourist town of Nashville are ordering a store owner to repaint a bright blue window frame.
Nashville's nine-member Development Review Commission has told the owners of J Bob's that they have until Aug. 1 to repaint the window frame to a more appropriate color.
The owner's daughter said her 79-year-old father repainted the window before leaving for a winter vacation in Florida. She said her mother got a call complaining about the color and thought the whole thing was silly.
The president of the Development Review Commission said they are coming up with a palate of acceptable colors for the town.
J Bob's sells merchandise including hot sauce and troll dolls to tourists who arrive each fall to look at the changing leaves.
There is a photo in the Bloomington paper, but you have to subscribe. If I recall it was a sky blue color. Not my tastes, but it wasn't outlandish. They are only talking about a 2" trim that goes around one window. Whoopie.
Whitewash was put on the street fronts of commercial properties. Sometimes a homeowner might whitewash his house ~ sometimes not.
For the most part, in the old days, most people in Brown County (of which Nashville is the county seat) lived in log cabins. This county continues to have numerous log cabins still in use as homes.
Folks identified with the art colony tradition came there for the ambience and the forests. My own people had lived there for a very long time ~ in fact, they owned Weed Patch Hill and most of Hardin Ridge.
They were engaged in manufacturing craft goods highly prized by tourists. The art colony folks fit right into the scene ~ In 1939 the big "cash cow", the exported artistic baskets, were no longer saleable since the Germans had brought Europe to war and were engaged in killing all the storekeepers and gypsies who sold those baskets for them. The art colony fell on equally hard times ~ for the same reason. Baskets aren't coming back, but the pictures are.
Maybe they thought the color of the window would offend someone?
This whole town of Nashville, IN is centered around being a historical district. It is just a tourist trap that gets lots of tourists during the change of season in the fall. The town probably has 800 people and nearly everyone runs or works in a shop. They have some artists and some nice glass work, but mostly a bunch of trinkets.
Congratulations. You're one of the few who hasn't jumped to an irrational conclusion.
If the citizens of this town DON'T want their local government to enforce the code for their historic district, then they should un-elect those representatives who do.
But I doubt the citizens would do that, because likely their town's ecomomy depends on their maintaining an attractive historic district.
In Boston the MBTA has been trying to put in 'required' handicap enterance/exit to the subway stop at Copely Square but the "Back Bay Neighborhood Association" objects to the placement and it's aesthetics.
Hooray! I hope the "Back Bay Neighborhood Association" wins!
I'm all for handicapped access, but "activists" and their lawyers often make ridiculous demands that end up being a huge burden to either small business owners or to taxpayers.
IIRC Clint Eastwood was sued some years ago over handicapped access to his restaurant. He wanted to provide access, but what he was prepared to do to his restaurant wasn't "acceptable" to the opportunistic plaintiff (who made a career of finding ADA "violations" and suing).
Eastwood could afford to fight it in court, but a lot of small business owners can't.
Boy, you're lucky! If you had chosen blue, The Thought Police would have come and taken you away.
I like bright blue.
Color fascism at work.
That was in Illinois. We are discussing Nashville INDIANA.
Do it in one of the striped patterns that causes dizziness when you look at it.
Many authorities credit the Brown County art colony (in the 1800s) with actually INVENTING the Impressionist art movement.
At the same time other authorities who didn't really care for all those landscapes accuse it of being little more than the source of Romanticism.
The nearby TCSteele memorial is worth visiting in the warm months when they roll out some of the thousands of paintings he left behind.
There's a Kincaid "outlet" (I call it that) worth looking at in town.
While you're at it, try the Hickory Nut Pie at Nashville House (seasonally available).
Can of paint is much cheaper. Besides, I'd bet it's already been repainted ~ weather warmed up last week.
I imagine the covenant says any remodeling or exterior changes are subject to approval from the relevant committee. When you move into a gingerbread house village and submit yourself to the authority of the gingerbread master don't come complaining when master doesn't think your house looks gingerbread enough. Just paint the darn window and shut up. It will only take about 10 minutes.
Do either of you know when the town got their historic district designation set up?
Nashville's nine-member Development Review Commission has told the owners of J Bob's that they have until Aug. 1 to repaint the window frame to a more appropriate color.
Yes they prefer "Commie Red"
An historic district designation "changes" things, and I would imagine they were reluctant to make any changes.
How about "Red State" red ~ much better.
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