David Hoppe

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:: Submarine in the garden

Testing the Regional Center process

By David Hoppe

One sunny Friday morning in May, I found myself seated in the Board Room of the Indiana History Center for a meeting to discuss a proposal by a group of U.S. Navy submarine veterans to install the sail from a retired submarine, the U.S.S. Indianapolis, on a half-acre patch of green space along the downtown canal walk.

A submarine sail is the narrow tower that sits toward the front of the craft. It's usually the first thing you see when a submarine breaks the surface of the sea. A pair of wings, called fair-weather planes or sailplanes, extend from either side of the sail, which, in the case of the Indianapolis, is 17 feet tall.

At present, the Indianapolis is moored in Bremerton, WA, where it is scheduled to be demolished in 2012. I don't know if he was joking, but one of the veterans at the meeting said that the steel from demolished submarines is used to make razor blades. Imagine that next time you reach for your Bic disposable.

"It is a man of war, but it is a weapon of peace," said Dr. Robert Smiley. Dr. Smiley hails from Linton, IN and was a veteran of the submarine service. Dr. Smiley went on to talk about the role submarines like the Indianapolis played during the Cold War. Unfortunately, he couldn't be very specific. "We took an oath," he told us, "we will not tell what we do.We are the Silent Service - that means you keep your mouth shut."

The point, however, was clear: America's submarine fleet - and the crews that labored in its undersea service - helped keep the Cold War from turning Hot.

The Heartland Design Group has been hired to render plans and drawings of what this memorial might look like. Evidently they've been through a dozen drafts so far. The drawings suggest that this project has been a challenge. It can't be easy to install something rather large and otherworldly - like the sail of a submarine - in a relatively snug urban setting like the canal walk and have it make sense.

At the meeting, the Heartland representatives spun this situation as best they could. They said the memorial "fits in with the environment on the canal" and that it continues "the theme of the canal." In other words, the canal has water. Submarines sail in water. Ergo, the sail of a submarine and the four-foot deep downtown canal go together.

Maybe. Maybe not. Unlike a site-specific piece of sculpture that might intentionally accentuate its surroundings, the sail of a submarine is emphatically only what it is. To submariners this is great, a key to memories of service. For the rest of us, it could be like laying your head down and finding a toaster where a pillow's supposed to be.

It appears the city owns the land, although property rights along the canal can be a muddle involving the state and various institutions with adjacent lot lines. Adding an additional dimension to the process is the fact Indianapolis now has a set of urban design guidelines (you can check them out at www.urbandesignindy.org). According to these guidelines, an installation shall "consider the relationship to architectural and natural features, landscape design, environmental impact and future plans for the area." And, if considered art, it "should also reflect the unique character, heritage and place of the Indianapolis region."

Whether or not the sail from a submarine fits these criteria, in this particular place, is certainly debatable. Dr. Smiley's assertion that "God intends for the group to have the site for our memorial because it has not been developed," while forceful, cannot be substantiated.

So it is encouraging to know that there is a Regional Center application process that plans for this memorial will have to pass.

That's especially important in this case because something else was revealed during the meeting. No one likes to say no to veterans. It is politically incorrect. When a veterans group, like the submariners, has an idea like this one, very few people in positions of authority seem comfortable telling these guys a better place might be found somewhere else. The Regional Center process should enable decisions like this one to be made in a more rational manner.

Dr. Smiley claimed the submarine memorial will cost $225,000, to be funded entirely through private donations. A deal like this might be tempting to the city, especially when finances are scarce and there is a desire to attract more people to the canal walk. But here again we see the value of the Regional Center process. Decisions about the use of public spaces must be based on more than pay-to-play.

Given its comparatively small budget, the submarine proposal can be called a low impact project. But the questions it raises about public land use and design standards are a useful lens through which to assess the city's fledgling urban planning process. Stay tuned.