Schmidt Memorial Makeover

[Arun Ganesh]

I dont know how many were aware of this, but today and last Sunday a group of enthusiastic souls have been trying to give the crumbling schmidt memorial at elliots beach a new paint job. I had joined them today and have a couple of photos that you can see at http://bitterscotch.wordpress.com/2008/09/14/who-painted-the-schmidt-memorial/

I think this is a great project to show what we are capable of. The memorial has the potential to be a primary tourist attraction but has been reduced to a bar and a public toilet by beachgoers. i'll admit to using this place to pee too, two years ago because there is no public toilet available on the beach (or at least none that i was aware of). If we could just get the public interested in this monument and make it get more attention, people would stop peeing on it and drinking here.

Here are a few issues that need to be solved:

1) The sands around the monument stink because of sustained urination

2) broken alcohol bottles everywhere

3) no clear information about the history of the monument that can catch the attention of the public. i actually used to think it was the ruins of a public toilet and most people probably still do.

4) vandalised walls that have been deeply etched

5) illumination

It would be great if we can come up with the actions that we can take ourselves and those that can be forwarded to the corporation. Its a shame that this memorial to honour such a brave soul is crumbling before our eyes

-arun

[Clement Williams]

Tell me how can I help?

Clement

2008/9/15 Arun Ganesh <arunga...@gmail.com>

--
Regards,
Clement

Find purpose, the means will follow

[r...@findnearyou.com]

Hi All

 

There were just two souls( siddarth and arun ganesh)  and i landed pretty late

Ram

 

www.findnearyou.com

39,N.Usman Road,
T.Nagar, Chennai- 600034
ph: 91-44-42124090/91/92/42605550 Mobile:91-98400-66000
fax 91--44-24364123
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[Vijay]

Guys, Adding Feroz Ahmed, one of the key guys behind this initiative
into the loop. (and also added into the mailing list)

Feroz, the floor is all yours.

One can also email him directly at mf...@redffmail.com

Vijay

[sharadha Shankar]

Hi , This is sharadha from the civil society group . We had taken up the issue of Elliots  beach beautification with the corporation and after a long battle made the corporation agree to not putting  concrete structures on the beach . The renovation of the memorial , cleanliness, building  more toilets are all part of the new plan approved  by the corporation and for which, already money has been allocated.  Already, work is started for relaying the pavement and I am sure, there is more to come.

 

You can reach the architect , Raghuram under whose supervision the job is being carried out on his mobile 9444024699.

 

 If you are planning to do something around the beach, please do write to me or CSG. Some of our members will be glad to help. 

 

-Sharadha

98414 40682

[r...@findnearyou.com]

Hi sharadha

 

Thanks. Great news that there is a clear plan. Ifix is a group that takes up anything that needs fixing and has passed the notice of the corporation. Motto is if I find something wrong- i dont whine or talk about how good it is in the U.S but get the hands dirty and do it ourselves.

 

This was started by three musketeers, divya, mahes and vijay and there are lot so volunteers who have spent many nights filling up pot holes in chennai. This memorial action was intiated by Biker/thinker/doer siddarth and Ifix has promised to plunge in with volunteers.

 

we are ready to do our bit and woud be happy to know how we can contribute.

Ram

 

www.findnearyou.com

making everyday decisions simpler

 

39,N.Usman Road,
T.Nagar, Chennai- 600034
ph: 91-44-42124090/91/92/42605550 Mobile:91-98400-66000
fax 91--44-24364123
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DISCLAIMER:

 

This message (including attachment if any) is confidential and may be privileged. If you have received this message by mistake please notify the sender by return e-mail and delete this message from your system. Any unauthorized use or dissemination of this message in whole or in part is strictly prohibited.
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[Arun Ganesh]

i was just talking to some guys in the corporation today and was asking them if the memorial fell under their jurisdiction and they seemed unsure of it. apparently there are plans to beautify elliots beach but its collecting dust in their offices because a few residents association were having differences with the proposal and wanted the beach to be left alone. it looks like by the time that gets sorted out the memorial would have entirely collapsed. i compared its current state with a photo i had taken 2 years ago and could notice substantial structural damage to the top parts.

The least we can do is to paint it completely and cover the unsightly graffiti and paan stains. We need to let the people on the beach why its standing there. One thing we can do this sunday is to clean up the sand surrounding the structure from debris and broken alcohol bottles.

Can someone give some good ideas how this could be done? i was thinking we could sieve the sand through a net and fish out all the crap. Let the public see what they have done to our precious beach and let them be ashamed. 

The painting is still not completely done since we ran out of paint last time. We still need a bucket of paint and a couple of ladders to finish it up. anyone willing to chip in?

-arun

[vidhya srinivasan]

I work with a builder as a client. I will ask him for paint and revert asap Vidhya Vidhya Srinivasan 4-B, Srinivas Apartments, 155 Velachery Main Road, Chennai 600042 22445681,22448801 --- On Fri, 19/9/08, Arun Ganesh <arunga...@gmail.com> wrote:

---

Share files, take polls, and make new friends - all under one roof. Click here.

[RAM]

Hi Arun

 

will chip in with paint and bucket. we will try to solve the snake and ladder issue this time. r v all meeting tomorrow morning as planned. aravind and sathya were at the marina todaycleaning it up with the coast guards.

happy painting day tomorrow

[Arun Ganesh]

Thanks Vidhya, i dont even think we need an entire bucket cause around 80 percent is done.

does anyone have a ladder that we could use. Or would it be possible to borrow it from the velankani church? we tried asking them last week, but due to the service no one was there in office. anyone living close by could try to find out, im sure they'd help.

-arun

[Arun Ganesh]

Sunday mornings at besant nagar beach has become a routine for a bunch of us now. As usual Siddarth was there with his friends and with tools lent by Neel Metal and we got around collecting the never ending supply of garbage and glass from the sands. Whats heartening is the support we have been getting from different quarters, there are individuals who are willing to sponsor primer, paint and even labourers to do the job properly as well as others who have been spreading the word and increasing awareness of the memorial. Of immense help will be Vincent D'Souza of Adyar Times who's graciously extended his full support for the cause.

But most importantly, today we got the attention of a local fisherman who also happens to be a neighbourhood rowdy to our cause. he's been touched that a group of youngsters are taking the effort to clean up the memorial which he considers his home. As he spends most of his time sitting on the structure, he has pledged to prevent people from urinating and vandalising it. Later he took us on a boat ride and told us about his life as a fisherman and the problems they face. We also got to know some of the head folks of the kuppam and were extremely friendly to us.

I think that these people are our strongest power on the beach. If we can get them to support our cause for a clean beach, there is no way we can fail. More than restoring the memorial, the bigger issues that we face are the litter and lack of public toilets. Theres no point spending time and money on a superficial monument if its going to go back to ruins in a few years. Its the people of the city that need a makeover more than the memorial.

The beach is full of filth and no matter how much we clean it, its going to get dirty again. Like they say, prevention is better than cure. It would be great to get ideas on how we can stop getting people to litter. Once we have a plan of action, we can start approaching govt agencies and prod them till they give in to our requests. Ideas anyone?

cheers

arun ganesh

PS: join the ifix mailing list http://groups.google.com/group/ifixchennai?hl=en for easier group communication regarding this and other city initiatives

[Karthik H]

Its good to know that the actual people of the beach are out to
support us.. As arun said, its the lack of trash cans and public
toilets that has brought the situation to where it is right now.. A
friend of mine once had an idea of creating dust bins out of plastic
bottles.. It'd look colourful and yet make use of trash itself.. Its
pretty simple actually.. Just string some plastic bottles together and
you got dust bins.. Placing them randomly in the beach is something we
ourselves can do without anybody's help.. Its not like the everybody's
gna stop throwing their garbage outside and redeem in a day.. But
atleast a few would care enough to throw it into the bins and that's a
start.. Karthik H

[r...@findnearyou.com]

Hi Karthik and arun

Missed out this sunday participation due to office pressure. I have been
thinking about these issues also and i think we should avoid plastic
completely but choose ecofriendly materials like bamboo or jute or
something. We also need to palce some kinda bamboo sticks around the
memorial to delienate teh same from the general squatting area.

i do not mind putting up the money for the bamboo/eco friendly trash cans
and part sponsor the mobile toilets ( because lack of visible facilities is
the main reason for people who are in a hurry!!!

Happy fixing
Ram

www.findnearyou.com

39,N.Usman Road,
T.Nagar, Chennai- 600034
ph: 91-44-42124090/91/92/42605550 Mobile:91-98400-66000
fax 91--44-24364123
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DISCLAIMER:

This message (including attachment if any) is confidential and may be
privileged. If you have received this message by mistake please notify the
sender by return e-mail and delete this message from your system. Any
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strictly prohibited.
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----- Original Message -----
From: "Karthik H" <mni...@gmail.com>
To: <ifixc...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Monday, October 06, 2008 11:52 AM
Subject: [I Fix Chennai] Re: Schmidt Memorial Makeover

>

> --

[Arun Ganesh]

Karthik, thats a great idea. reusing plastic bottles to make trash cans. can we get more details on the design? we can try teaching the fishermen how to make them and make the corporation buy from them, giving them an alternate source of income. may sound a little far fetched but its worth giving it a try.

Ram, not sure if cordoning off the area will be supported by all. putting up any sort of structure even temporary ones without permission might get us in hot water.

Toilets are certainly a huge problem. we need to find out why there arent any near the beach in the first place. or are there?

-arun

[RAM]

Hi Arun

 

I think recycling the plastic cans ( stringed to form trash bins) is not a geat idea and you will be permanently polluting the beach and i shudder to think of our bessie dotted with these ungainly trash bins .Please have a heart _ i dont mind launching an opera( jus figurative ok )  to raise money to buy the eco friendly cans.

 

we should also do  waste segregation by using different colored bins

 

Lets go green

 

Regards

 

Ram

www.findnearyou.com

[Arun Ganesh]

Maybe, but anyhing fancy looking is bound to get stolen. The corporation told us that the trash bins they placed on the beach kept getting lifted so they have stopped putting them there. 

If we can get the people from the kuppam to make something, then they are sure to protect it themselves.

-arun