Slaying the Dragon

Unfortunately, it’s not possible to slay the monster sitting across the Allegheny River from my place. It’s name is the Warren Municipal Parking Garage, a five-story brick and steel autohaus, painted an aqua blue, that occupies about a block-long stretch of prime riverfront.

In daylight, the color-clash between the muted red of the brick and the aqua blue of the painted steel farming, is quite displeasing. Originally, the steel frame was scheduled to the painted a dark green. But through some snafu, the supplier sent the wrong color.

The contractor was so anxious to complete the project on time that he went ahead and used the aqua blue. In the end, haste made waste, because the completion and opening of the garage was delayed about a month because of drainage problems. It opened last week.

Although the previous view was of a surface parking lot and the deteriorating rear sections of old three and four story brick buildings, the new garage is architectural sore thumb because of the color contrast. It gets worse at night, when all five floors sit in the glow of bright lit making it look more like a sports stadium.

Today is cloudy and cold here, so I’m busying myself doing general household chores and computer maintenance. Other than a medical exam on Wednesday, this week is pretty much routine, although I may be posting several new poems in the next few days.