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Ellen Belcher is the Dayton Daily News opinion pages editor. She writes about state government, education, the environment, higher education and all things Dayton.
Martin Gottlieb is an editorial writer and columnist for the Dayton Daily News opinion pages. He focuses on the political process itself and does such national issues as war, the economy, taxes and Social Security, as well as a hodge-podge of local and state issues.Home > Blogs > A Matter of Opinion > Archives > 2010 > March > 14
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Editorial: Crowds are not the enemy at the Fraze
The people who own the businesses that surround the Fraze Pavilion want to prevent blankets or folding chairs from popping up on their lawns for a few hours on summer nights.
Commonly, people who don’t have tickets to concerts or who don’t want to pay gather outside the Fraze to listen to the music rolling out from the amphitheater. The crowds are there to soak up the fun with their neighbors and enjoy the park.
That atmosphere is about to change.
Property owners are perfectly within their rights to draw lines at the sidewalk and call those who step across trespassers. But going down that road is a big mistake, one that threatens to harm a friendly community spirit that has been a big player in the Fraze’s success.
It’s hard to accept that there’s really a problem. The anecdotes property owners cite — public urination, property damage and increasing disorderliness — simply don’t match the general experience most people have when they stroll the sidewalk along Lincoln Park Boulevard during a summer show. There just isn’t any hard evidence of major problems or that misbehavior should be a growing concern.
Of course, there certainly are isolated cases of bad behavior whenever large groups of people gather. To some extent, that’s the nature of being next to an outdoor attraction, whether it’s an amphitheater, a movie theater or even a park or walking trail.
Those problems can be addressed in other ways, including law enforcement. Often, rule-breaking can be discouraged simply by asking the good people who use public venues to help. An army of people willing to report misbehavior and to reinforce the rules through their own actions and expectations can be a powerful force for good.
Asking for help from concert-goers and a stepped-up police presence would have been a better way for the city, the Fraze and property owners to start this conversation. What about blocking off a piece of Lincoln Park Boulevard for a few hours?
From its opening 19 years ago, the Fraze Pavilion was hailed for giving Kettering an identity as something more than just another suburban bedroom community. Lincoln Park Commons, as it was known before the Fraze, was an ideal setting for a de-facto public square. As a “central park,” it was already a popular setting for community events and activities.
The Fraze took that a step further. The Dayton Daily News described the new scene at the time as “a well-planned assortment of housing, green areas, water spots, restaurants and offices” that created “an environment that is serene even as it adds a cosmopolitan flavor to Kettering life.”
If, with the city’s and the Fraze’s blessing, neighbors throw up an invisible fence, they threaten to upend the delicately balanced, interactive “commons” that the space was intended to be.
It’s not too late to reconsider. Property can be protected in other ways.
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