Goo in the News

The smelly, algae-filled "reflecting pools" at the Hawaii State Capitol have been a longtime source of frustrated and disgusted commentary, but now the disgusting wet mess has hit the big time. Tomorrow's New York Times features an article titled, "In a Sparkling State, Goo Fills the Symbolic Pools."

Now everyone knows about the problem. What's the solution? Worth fixing, or only after a few other foul matters are attended to?

An Excerpt:

Hawaii's 35-year-old Capitol is a modernist landmark, awash in island symbolism. White pillars, reminiscent of royal palm trees, form the perimeter, with the center open to the sun, wind and rain. The House and Senate chambers are swooping cones of volcanic stone rising from two enormous pools that are meant to evoke the crystalline Pacific Ocean.

Except they do not.

Comments

No, they more accurately resemble a Superfund site.

Well, if squawking by the citizenry of the State won't do it, maybe shame before the readers of the "paper of record" will.

This pool has always bothered me because every time I pass by, it's full of brown sludgy muck (and I'm not counting those huge chlorine aspirins)! They should just empty it, paint it blue for the ocean with little fishies and coral, etc. Either that or fill it with sand/plants. However, when I mentioned this second suggestion to one of my co-workers who had been in the rooms beneath the pool, he thought the floor may not be able to support such weight. I didn't confirm that, however.

Re: painting it. Do you suppose Wyland...nah, never mind.

ARRRGGHHHH .... Wyland?! No, no no. :)

I didn't have any particular artists in mind but...I don't think Wyland should do it.

But I have no other suggestions.

The Star-Bulletin's Rosemarie Bernardo wrote about this before the NY Times did, plus she wrote something else FOUR WHOLE YEARS ago about the situation. It's not like Michele Kayal (the author of the NYT story) was the one to let "everyone" know about it.

The 2000 story

The 2004 story

Um, thanks, Kelly, but I thought it went without saying that the New York Times has a slightly larger readership than the Star-Bulletin.

Yes, just about every local media outlet has done this story in the last few years. Now it's gone national.

Yeah, I'm sorry to say Kelly but the story hitting the New York Times is actually a story in itself. In fact I wouldn't be surprised if the local media DID a story about our algae pools hitting the Times. Seriously.

Not that I'm not a Rosemarie Bernardo fan. She's pretty hot. But she doesn't work for the NYT.

Whatever solution the State comes up with regarding the moat... oh I mean pond, it will cost the taxpayers a lot of money. To me the most prudent thing to do is to simply fill the thing in.

Here are some pictures I shot for this online publication of the moat last year. You have to scroll a little ways down to see the photos and the short commentary regarding the moat.

I remember reading in one of the newspapers that they were going to try some method which has been successful in the hippo pool at the Zoo.

Filling them in, or planting stuff in them, would be an easy answer but defeats the symbolical nature of the building and there should be a better solution.

Given the nature of our current crop of pols, maybe we should make it a pig wallow! ;)

Post a Comment