These ugly towers are marring a Charlotte greenway and park. But there’s an easy fix
Beside a quietly flowing creek, a tower of steel lattice soars above the trees and pierces the sky. The sun reflects off its metal skeleton as it stands tall, an ever present reminder of our reliance on electricity.
A tangle of wires dangles listlessly above four teenagers enjoying a competitive game of basketball. They go about their game, to the hum of electricity flowing through the high voltage lines overhead.
These transmission towers (or electricity pylons or power towers) dot the landscape starting at Carolinas Medical Center, meandering along the Little Sugar Creek Greenway until splitting off into the wild blue yonder around NoDa. (I gave up on following them around University City.) They serve a purpose, powering a hospital that cares for thousands of people on any given day.
They also serve as visual pollution along a greenway system that is trying to establish itself as a destination, and mar an otherwise nice park. Each tower presents a jarring juxtaposition between nature and the man-made urban landscape. Cordelia Park, which straddles the up-and-coming Optimist Park and Villa Heights neighborhoods, suffers the most from these towers, as it cuts through some of the most important and activated parts of the park.
What is the solution? In a perfect world, removal and relocation would be the ultimate goal. Pat Cotham, the At Large County Commissioner, said on Twitter that each pylon costs a staggering $1 million and it would be difficult to convince Duke to remove/move them on its own.
@OptimistParkCLT @nibletodell @ESPortillo @MeckCounty was told each pylon $1M so I doubt if Duke would spend $. 1st time heard complaint.
— Pat Cotham (@PatCothamMeck) October 10, 2016
Perhaps help could come in the form of grants, or through government subsidization. These might be a long shot in the short term.
Perhaps there is another solution. Optimist Park, Villa Heights and NoDa have all begun to establish themselves as the premiere creative communities in the city. Why not embrace the structures and treat them as a blank canvas for art?
There is precedent in Charlotte for trying to beautify otherwise ugly man-made objects. Highway underpasses, substations and parking garage walls have all been altered in the name of art. Just look at the South End signal house and the lit-up substation and transmission tower along the Rail Trail.
The Arts and Science Council has excelled at avant garde outdoor art installations, and ASC President Robert Bush said the Cross City Trail Art Plan will be finalized by December. Wouldn’t it be great if something like this was a part of it?
For more inspiration, look at what a group of students did in Essen, Germany, along what is known as the Ruhr Art Trail. They applied simple colored plexiglass and humanized an otherwise cold and ugly structure.
Decades ago, these transmission towers were erected along what was considered a forgotten and overgrown creek in Charlotte, and through a park in an area with no voice. The light rail extension is less than a year from opening, and the spotlight is on Optimist Park and Villa Heights, the gateway between NoDa and Uptown. These areas are forging new identities, identities that I hope will tie together residents new and old, and they deserve parks where the man-made ties in better with nature.
Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation is working on plans to improve Cordelia Park, and the greenway, and I hope that they will consider this idea as well.
Featured photo: Courtesy of @OptimistParkCLT
This story was originally published October 18, 2016 at 1:01 AM with the headline "These ugly towers are marring a Charlotte greenway and park. But there’s an easy fix."