Hoping for disaster

The Madison Parks Commission again refused to sell the land under the former Lincoln School to the company that currently rents out the apartments so they can convert them to condos. The commission wants to keep the land as a nonusable park for the city rather than make hundreds of thousands of dollars on a piece of land we can't use.

If you were wondering why, wonder no more. Parks Development Manager Simon Widstrand had this to say:

"If anything ever happens to the building, we'll have the land and convert it to parkland."

This is the plan? Hoping a natural disaster or a fire takes the building out for us? It's a rather impressive, solid-looking building so everyone in the city will have to keep their fingers crossed at once to make something happen to it.

Until then, if city residents can't get the financial benefit of the funds, I say it's time the Madison Parks Commission gets to work helping us use the land the way it is now. They could dig us some space and we could go the lake and sit under the building.

Just think of all the benefits to an underground lakefront park. You wouldn't need sunblock! Your kids couldn't run too far away from you, what with being in a pit and all. No strong winds off the lake blowing your picnic items away.

The possibilities are endless.