By wpengine April 4, 2002
Amidst controversy, the Department of Transportation held a meeting Tuesday night to discuss the current plans for the South Plain Street Bridge, the first step in the City’s six-point traffic plan. Representatives from the Department of Public Works and from McFarland-Johnson, the architecture firm hired to build the bridge that will connect South and North Titus Streets, presented the plans to a gathering of approximately 30 Ithaca residents. Surveying Options “The firm presented three options on three designs. From previous meetings, we came up with about eleven pages of comments and concerns. We made a selection from the schematics, and we tried to incorporate those comments into the design,” said Bill Gray, superintendent of Public Works. Both Gray and Sam Baki, a representative from McFarland-Johnson, said that the design of the bridge was “straightforward and simple” but that there were surrounding issues that make the situation more complicated. “The goal here is to come up with a plan that is safe. The site itself features some constraints. First of all, the area is in a flood plain. The other issue is the closeness of the southern intersection to the bridge. We had to raise the profile of the bridge upward to avoid creating a flood,” Baki said. As one resident pointed out, the flood plane is a very real concern for the area. “I’m a 52-year resident, and I live about four doors from the bridge. The bridge has acted like a dam at least three times in that time,” Lyle Neigh said. “This bridge will be slightly higher than the existing bridge,” Gray responded. The proposed upward gradation caused concern for many residents until Gray pointed out that the South Plain Street Bridge “would look nothing like the South Albany Street Bridge,” which has a very steep incline, making it difficult for cyclists and pedestrians to navigate. “The center of this bridge is approximately the same height as the Albany Street Bridge, but it will happen much more gradually,” Gray said. The very existence of the bridge was also a concern for some residents. “Some of us feel that we were never asked whether we wanted this bridge. Maybe we just don’t want it, and we were not consulted,” said Susan Weitz, a resident of the area. However, Gray was quick to shut such debate down. “There are much broader community issues related to the six-point plan, but that’s not what we’re here to discuss tonight,” he said. Other residents were also concerned about whether the intersections coming off the bridge would have traffic lights or stop signs. The City plans for the bridge to have a 20 mph speed limit, but residents raised concerns about which system, lights or signs, would persuade drivers to drive slowly. “We had intended to do this with stop signs. But traffic signals provide a safer condition for pedestrians and cyclists. Stop lights sometimes don’t actually get people to stop,” Gray explained. Residents, however, objected to that idea. “None of these traffic signals work if people don’t use them. That’s a people problem, not a traffic problem,” Neigh said. Recklessness Baki added, “I stood at the current intersection for about three days about a month ago, and I counted at least eight or nine violations of people not stopping at the stop sign.” However, residents did say they were happy with the design of the bridge itself. “I would like to compliment the group on the design, and it seems you really did incorporate the comments from the last few meetings,” one resident told Baki.Archived article by Freda Ready
By wpengine April 4, 2002
If Ian Jacklin’s face looks familiar, it’s probably because you’ve seen him on your television screen. As a professional actor and kick boxer for 10 years (the light-heavyweight fighter in the Lennox Lewis camp), Jacklin has not only appeared in a number of films, but he’s also been seen on television shows like NBC’s Just Shoot Me and Days of Our Lives. Currently, though, Jacklin resides in Horseheads, NY where he’s acting as the mastermind behind the second annual Spring Sprawl Music Festival. If you don’t remember a first annual Spring Sprawl, it’s probably because last year the event was held at a grocery store on Manhattan’s lower east side and was called “NYC’s Winter Music Festival” That event was organized by Linda Suarez and there were 18 bands present. Jacklin’s film company, Co-Dependent Films, shot a documentary about the event. That film will be shown at the next Cannes festival among other venues. “I basically got into the entertainment industry in the first place because I really truly believe the best way to teach people is through entertainment. People learn the most when they’re paying attention. And what do [they] pay attention to? People learn the most when they’re watching television or watching a movie or listening to music,” says Jacklin. “So, this is the most important job that I could be doing right now.” Living in Brooklyn during the September 11 attack on the World Trade Center, Jacklin could see the fires burning from the roof of his building. Shortly thereafter, Jacklin lost his job, “After 9/11,” he said, “the company I was working for pulled the plug… So, I came up here [upstate] to live with a friend until I could get back on my own two feet.” What happened then surprised even Jacklin. “Like I said, I lost my mind. We [the country] just went through a major tragedy, I lost my job, and then I went to the hospital… I was dying, it was terrible. I basically went mental … but, what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. That’s when I moved to Horseheads.” Once he was in Horseheads, he did some thinking and decided to host another festival. But winter was passing quickly, so Jacklin whipped out the idea for a spring music festival composed of local, unknown bands. But, as you probably already know, upstate is quite different from the city. As Jacklin puts it, “People up here have jobs, significant others, and go bowling.” Despite the differences, however, he proceeded with the planning and ended up with a monster on his hands. “I couldn’t believe the response,” he said, “I was originally looking for 18 bands, and now we have 27. I didn’t want to turn anybody away, I wanted to hear ’em all.” And he didn’t turn anyone away. There are three judges lined up for the event. The criteria for the judging are: performance, style, originality, and energy all on a scale of 1 to 10. There are three prizes being offered, the top prize being an electronic press kit that will include a promotional video for the band complete with backstage coverage, and interviews of the band members. The package after production costs are totalled is valued at $5,000. Second prize is a professional photo shoot for the band courtesy of photographer Rick Bacmanski. This package is valued at $350. The third place winners will receive a gift certificate for Soundwork in Horseheads, a $100 dollar value. Despite the desirability of the prizes, though, Jacklin is quick to point out that this is not particularly a battle of the bands, that at least in some respects, Spring Sprawl’s vision is grander than that. “I would say that, in deciding what I’m going to do [with the festival] next year, I probably am going to rethink the prizes. I’ve gotten a lot of flack about that, you know. People are like, ‘Oh, it’s a battle of the bands’ and I say, it’s not really a battle of the bands. It’s a festival. It’s about bands going out there and singing their souls, who go out and really please the crowd,” he said. But any plans for next year remain hazy at this point. “Before I know about next year, I really gotta get through this one first,” he said. Admittedly, Jacklin says there was a lot he didn’t know when he started planning this event. “I’m working on a lot of other business stuff as well,” he said, “and I’m getting good at it. I’m learning how to make things happen, and I love doing it, that’s the key,” he said. “Putting all of this together has been a ton of work, but it’s like I’m working on a canvas — my computer has become a big canvas. You’ve got all your editing stuff, you’ve got pictures, and then you can put sounds together with it, it’s a really fun thing to do.” As it is, the 27 bands that are lined up for the event have each been assigned a time-slot in which they’ll have to prove to the three judges that they’re worthy of a documentary film made about them. Perhaps one of the strangest, and most interesting things about the event is the location itself. Spring Sprawl is being held at Gush’s, a bar in Elmira. Now, holding a concert in a bar is nothing new. Holding a full-blown music festival in a bar with a Harley Davidson reputation, however, is something very different. Gush’s has a longstanding reputation as a biker bar. The image, however, doesn’t bother Jacklin and was, in fact, one of the reasons he wanted to hold it there. “The name of the upcoming movie is going to be Small Town Bands, and Gush’s is just perfect. It’s got a dark atmosphere, a little seedy, but a really good time. It was the atmosphere of the place, completely.” The festivities begin tonight at Gush’s in Elmira (351 East Washington Ave.) and runs all weekend long. With 27 bands playing from 6:30 p.m. to 1:10 a.m. every evening except Sunday, this promises to be one of the biggest musical events of the season. And, even though Jacklin has expressed his animosity at the festival being pigeonholed as a battle of the bands, the $5,000 worth of professional video production should certainly make for some top-notch performances from each band present. For more information, you can visit the event’s official home on the web: www.springsprawl.com Archived article by Nate Brown