Dear Editor:
After reading the Dispatch articles of July 1 and July 7 about
the cultural center being located at the Seventh and Eigleberry
area, I’m reminded of a quote by Alexander Solzhenitsyn
–
”
There are meaningful warnings which history gives of a
threatened or perishing society (Gilroy). Such are, for instance,
the decadence of art and lack of statesmanship (City Council).
”
Dear Editor:
After reading the Dispatch articles of July 1 and July 7 about the cultural center being located at the Seventh and Eigleberry area, I’m reminded of a quote by Alexander Solzhenitsyn – “There are meaningful warnings which history gives of a threatened or perishing society (Gilroy). Such are, for instance, the decadence of art and lack of statesmanship (City Council).”
Boy! does that quote apply to Gilroy. The cultural center’s task force, that squandered $20,000 dollars, delivered as was always intended – “locate the cultural center downtown.” The so-called cultural center is considered to be a great white knight on a silver horse, sword in hand, who will save and rehabilitate downtown Gilroy.
One can draw a pertinent lesson from review of the history of Wheeler Hospital. Wheeler Hospital was a successful 60-bed hospital, operating in the black, beds priced reasonably, a service-oriented unit; then big business, finance and commerce began to replace the caring and compassionate touch of medicine. It was noted that Morgan Hill, traditionally oriented to Gilroy, now having a higher income level and well covered by health insurance, had become a medical vacuum open to competition by hospitals in San Jose. One hospital administrator planned a hospital in Morgan Hill to capture the Morgan Hill market. The Wheeler Hospital Board also eyed the Morgan Hill area.
Both groups were threatening to build a hospital in that area. Studies and surveys revealed that, if two hospitals were built in South County, both would go broke.
Two of the contesting administrators sought compromise. “Let’s join forces and build a single hospital, located conveniently to both Gilroy and Morgan Hill.” A location just west of today’s Santa Clara County Courthouse in San Martin was readily available – 40 acres, priced right, with convenient access from both Monterey Road and Santa Teresa Expressway. This location and plan was a reasonable and logical site for a new hospital. But, politics prevailed over wisdom (like the Seventh and Eigleberry location) and two hospitals were built in South County, the Gilroy hospital located in a remote area north of town. To get to it, you have to fight traffic and also cross freeway and railroad traffic. And, as predicted, both hospitals were broke!
The above lesson applies to the development of a cultural center in Gilroy. It is not the function of a cultural center to revitalize a rundown section of town. The editorial in The Dispatch on July 7 reveals that the plan all along was to locate the center downtown. Culture be damned! Money rules!
Sad to say, there is little or no culture or arts in Gilroy – the South County Symphony Orchestra being an exception. There may be a building at Seventh and Eigleberry, but culture and arts are not made of steel and brick. That’s something our mayor and city council cannot comprehend, nor can the members of the Chamber of Commerce.
J.G. McCormack, Gilroy
Submitted on Wednesday, July 9
