Having said this, I join many others in being a bit baffled as to why forks have appeared in places where there are no eateries, seeing as the stated intent from the very beginning was to use the painted forks to indicate food and drink establishments. Doesn't it confuse matters to put them elsewhere? Couldn't a another symbol in a different color mark non-culinary attractions?
The history of the fork in the road is very clear. On November 29, NAC explained the project, which had been outlined by Thrasher at a Merchant Mixer meeting held earlier the same day.
Minutes from recent Board of Public Works tell the rest of the story.
November 8, 2011COMMUNICATIONS – PUBLIC:
David Thrasher 205 E. Market explained that he is getting ready to do a city-wide promotion for downtown and part of it involves some public art. He stated that it is called “Fork in the Road” and it is to promote local restaurants and there will be a fork painted in front of each business that participates. He stated that they would like to get started as soon as possible.
Mr. Denison stated that they have met with the businesses downtown and they are very excited, but the board will have to discuss the paint and the aesthetics. He suggested that they table this item and then keep it on the agenda for next week to work out the details.
Mrs. Wilkinson moved to table the item until next week, Mrs. Garry second, all voted in favor.
November 15, 2011
OLD BUSINESS:
Item #4 - “Fork in the Road” art project
Mr. Denison stated that he has looked into this and he would recommend the board’s full approval.
Mrs. Wilkinson moved to approve, Mrs. Garry second, all voted in favor.
So, what’s the reason for the misplaced forking mystery?
The Green Mouse guesses that it owes to political expediencies ... but from whom and where? None of the usual suspects is taking credit -- and they always take credit. Perhaps the Ritter House is a clue, and because of that, we suggest following the project’s patronage trail. Is it Indiana R-72? Only the Shadow and St. Daniels know for sure, and they're busy plotting bridge tolls.
The painting on the road was never officially approved by the board of works before it had already been done. Seeing as you're a stickler for process and transparency, maybe you already knew this. I felt like it would have been overkill and there was so much else going on at that particular meeting that I didn't have time to hear all of it, but you need to pull minutes from the December meetings. I've got a quote lying around here somewhere in one of these books made by Denison to that affect. I was told DNA paid for this, hopefully will have something more in depth after the first of the year.
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