About a week ago, I saw what I thought was a shot from Jim Schutze (see first comment) aimed squarely at Robert Wilonsky. This came on Wilonsky’s very first day at the Morning News. The CPU in Wilonsky’s computer at the Observer hadn’t even had time to cool off completely, and — pow — Schutze was making pointed remarks about the way Wilonsky did his job (and is doing his new job). A commenter whistled me for being offsides (which I enjoyed).
Well, now I’ve clearly seen a shot. Have a look at this post from Wilonsky on Unfair Park. He couldn’t leave the paper without trying to track down some morsels about the planned redevelopment of Crozier Tech, the decrepit downtown building that enjoys special preservation protection. This was classic Wilonsky (whom I know too well to keep referring to by his last name), doggedly pursuing stories about imperiled old buildings. He did it for years on Unfair Park.
Now comes Schutze. Here’s what he writes today about Crozier Tech: “How this particular sucker got chosen for landmarkification, I have no idea. All the news stories say it’s ‘architecturally significant.’ Yeah, well, you know, at my age I look in the mirror, I try to tell myself the same thing. It’s a reach. Sometimes shit is just old.” He says we should just tear the thing down.
Forget the architectural argument and the city planning stuff. Forget about Dallas destroying its history. That’s not what I’m interested in right now. What interests me is the tension between Schutze and Wilonsky — Robert, Bob. Unfair Park would have been a far livelier blog if the two men had had this discussion when they worked together.
“Oh, I just love that old building.”
“What the hell are you talking about? It’s ugly and it’s hampering needed development.”
That sort of exchange, I’m guessing, could have happened on a number of topics. I wonder why it didn’t.
