Don't fall for hype

Good laughs from columnist Tom Eblen and the Dudley Webb-Jim Gray Destroy Lexington axis. CentrePointe is now a symbol of "world-class architecture."

Phooey. It's an ugly toy for rich folk. People in Lexington tell pollsters they like horse farms. Well, Webb has given you a beautiful horse farm field in the middle of town — you just can't always walk on it.

And now Eblen's touting a Town Branch Park. Excuse me, but Town Branch isn't a nice creek. It's a sewer in the most undesirable location in Fayette County.

City officials encouraged property owner Joe Rosenberg to go to Chicago and sold him on new urbanism. Now they want a CentrePointe development to be a piece of New York City in Lexington so they have a place for their limos to drop them off.

And now, for the umpteenth time, they want state tax money and breaks to pay for it. Historically, they've taken the money earmarked for parks and an art center in Lexington.

Leaving the center of the city open as it now is would be the best thing. Make a nice park. Allow people who come downtown to breathe the air and see the light.

Walk down there, imagine a huge useless building blotting out the sky, and decide whether that's really what Lexington needs to be a real city. Then tell them Lexington isn't Webb's cat box anymore.

Jeff Lewis

Versailles

Leave the open space

Last Sunday, the Herald-Leader had an extensive article about the proposed CentrePointe construction project in downtown Lexington. With the headline, "CentrePointe: Five years of construction frustration," the article quoted a number of noted people who want the project to get moving.

My view is that Lexington has had almost three years of the most beautiful place downtown since the days of Henry Clay and efforts should be made to keep it.

Bob Edwards

Lexington