Part II: Public Outcry becomes Public Art!
Tomorrow morning Escobar bridge will be taped off by city staff and our contractor Dimitry Doronkin will begin the task of laying the ceramic painted tiles on the bridge surface. He will be helped by Roger of the Environmental Studies Academy, a student of Rona Zollinger and the son of a tile & granite contractor himself. Worth A Dam will be there, handing out water, picking up trash and making sure the right tiles go in the right places.I heard from Lisa at the Contra Costa Times that we might even have a photographer stop by to record the moment.
Dimitry tells me they will lay tiles on thursday, and grout them on friday. The tile will be sealed for graffiti and UV protection, and will need to dry 72 before the last layer can be applied. Maybe you’d like to stop by and honk your support? The blue trim tile was purchased at Laufen tile in nearby Pacheco, and they kindly gave us a “school” discount for beavers. The trim pieces will be cut today by Chris Johnson at Bullnosing by Craftsman on Nardi Lane in Martinez. Jon is meeting Dimitry at the Home Depot in Martinez to buy supplies. All in all it couldn’t be a more local project.
Back in July, Worth A Dam was able to land an interview plugging the beaver festival on KCBS. The beaver-weary radio man made a series of veiled remarks bemoaning their presence and said “I guess Martinez has decided to turn its lemons into lemonade“. Sigh. What can you do to combat that kind of prejudice?
Now I think I would smile very indulgently and say, “Gosh I don’t think its entirely fair to call our city council “lemons“. Sure they’ve been difficult, but we have managed to work with them.”
