Steve Mensing, Editor
♦ Let’s recall that the original dome was planned for a Central Office to be located on the 329 South Main Gaslands. Here the dome would’ve been a much better fit. 329 South Main resides at a far higher elevation than 500 North Main and a dome at 329 S. Main could be seen on Salisbury’s horizon for many miles in every direction. Right place-right elevation.
At the Central Office’s location at 500 North Main the dome would now be at the bottom of a hill and would not be seen on the horizon. Someone wolfing down chilli dawgs at Haps at the top of the hill would be looking down at the dome. The alleged authority of the Central Office is largely erased in its new location in the 500 block of North Main. Nearby sits a BBQ joint and a water tower completely overwhelms and dominates the “dome”.
Sometimes symbols of authority get lost in contexts ill-suited for them. A dome at 500 North Main would appear pretentious, silly, and overshadowed by a neighboring water tower. Picture Buckingham Palace standing in an abandoned and blighted neighborhood in Detroit.
Perhaps the dome’s void at the top of the Central Office might be filled with a flashing neon sign selling the school system’s latest initiatives. “Go Digital! Go Literacy!”
