Dear Answer Man, I recently noticed the railings along the bike path in front of the Rochester Art Center are a brilliant orange. Please tell me this is not their permanent color! With the blue railings on the Third Avenue bridge, this color combination is simply an eyesore. Why is the city determined to use every primary color rather than an aesthetically pleasing, natural dark green, brown, or matching blue for the railings and bridges along the downtown bike paths? Thank you.
That's not a "brilliant orange," that's salmon, though Mike Nigbur, the city's park and forestry division boss , acknowledges that the paint chip and the actual color "ended up slightly different. Nonetheless, this was a conscious decision in this location. The railing needed painting, and with the changes contemplated for Mayo Park it seemed appropriate that this area be set apart from other locations in our park system."
Is it an eyesore? I wouldn't call it attractive, though as Mike says, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. We have received quite a few positive comments on the railing color change as compared with the relatively few concerns being raised."
It's ironic that this color clash has occurred outside the city's visual art headquarters, the Rochester Art Center. Executive Director Megan Johnston declined to comment on whether the color is orange, salmon or acceptable.
Dear Answer Man, I just heard on the radio that the Washington Redskins were originally the Duluth Eskimos. I've never heard this before. Can it possibly be true? -- Lake Girl
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No, it can't possibly be true . Duluth had a team in the proto- National Football League way back in the mid-1920s, originally called the Kelleys (after a local hardware store) and then the Eskimos , but it folded after the 1927 season. The team didn't even play in the Zenith City in that final season.
There's a tangled business history after that, but neither the NFL nor the Redskins say the franchise is related to the Duluth outfit. But it's a great story, fictionalized in the George Clooney movie "Leatherheads" eight years ago, and can you imagine if the Duluth Eskimos were still in business? There would be no Vikings, but what a rivalry with the Packers.
The Eskimos' last game with the Packers was 99 years ago this October, a 20-0 loss at City Stadium in Green Bay. Lambeau Field was built about 30 years later.
