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Letter to the editor

Today's Letters: Combine library, beach rec center

By LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Published July 12, 2007

Combine library, beach rec center 

In your article on the importance of recreation centers ("Recreation cuts need scalpel rather than ax," July 3 editorial), you failed to mention one important factor: It would be of enormous benefit to combine the Clearwater Beach Recreation Center with the beach library.

People using the library might also want to use the recreation center since they're there, and people using the recreation center might find items of interest in the library that pertain to an activity they are doing there.

It would save the city/library $100,000 a year in rent. And the recreation center would be more efficiently run because there would be more people there throughout the day.

But wait just a minute! You also came out some months ago in favor of closing the beach library entirely because there are other things of "value" that negate the need for the library.

After all, as you pointed out, the beach community has the beach and a fishing pier (duh!). They also have a lovely playground (Clearwater Beach demographics show there are many seniors and very few children living there). And they will have Beach Walk.

Let's look at Beach Walk. First of all, the people on the north beach see that as of little or no benefit to them, and the people on the south beach aren't happy about it either.

One day Beach Walk will be finished, fully functional and beautiful. What happens if it's raining? Cold? Too hot? Red Tide is flourishing? One isn't feeling well? One is tired? One simply wants to be indoors?

The products that the beach library provide can give pleasure, knowledge and joy for a much longer period of time than one would probably spend at Beach Walk. One can enjoy the books, magazines, recorded books, CDs, DVDs, whether sitting on Beach Walk or indoors, and get them much more conveniently than going downtown.

When the library is open, people can get informational help from the staff, read, photocopy something of importance, pick up various free fliers, and access the library computers or their own laptops (whether to communicate with friends and relatives, type a resume get some valuable information, apply for assistance or a job, play a game or just print out a boarding pass) - all in air-conditioned comfort.

So, again, let's recognize and support the value of combining the beach library and the beach recreation center.

Linda Hamrell, Manager, Beach Branch, Clearwater Public Library

Landscaping road makes little sense

(Re: "Lower speed limit enforced," July 8) Where did the Largo town fathers have their individual heads when they decided to plant the new landscaping on Clearwater-Largo Road?

Putting in landscaping that makes a road a bit unsafe at 40 mph makes about as much sense as the fabled roundabout that our neighbors in Clearwater threw into a money pit.

C. M. Russell, Largo

Planes' landing patterns scary

As awful as Tuesday's crash of a small plane was in Sanford, imagine what the carnage would be if a large, fully loaded cargo airliner crashed into some residential area in North Pinellas in the wee hours of any morning.

To save a few dollars in fuel, airlines and cargo lines (FedEx in particular) routinely cut right across North Pinellas at 5 a.m. or earlier to land at St. Petersburg-Clearwater International Airport (PIE) rather than fly the north-south route down Old Tampa Bay.

If one tracks them on the PIE Web site, one can see that many times they are at less than 500 feet, yet are still more than 5 miles away from landing.

Let's hope that the most dangerous part of any flight, the transition from land to air and vice versa, never plays out in the Palm Harbor-Countryside-Safety Harbor area for us.

Jay Dalney, Oldsmar

Your voice counts

You may submit a letter to the editor for possible publication through our Web site at www.tampabay.com/letters, or by faxing it to (727) 445-4119, or by mailing it to Letters, 710 Court St., Clearwater, FL 33756. You must include your name, address and phone number. Letters may be edited for clarity, taste and length.

[Last modified July 12, 2007, 07:29:11]