My friend, Jim Roy, has been after me to write a post about “the garage.” (He says enough with the frogs.)

The garage, the garage, the garage. Deja vu all over again. Or like “Groundhog Day,” the movie where the same thing keeps happening over and over again.

Ok, Newburyport, MA has been promised 5 million towards a garage by the Commonwealth of MA. And if Mr. Karp would like to cough up the other whatever million, and if the garage would go on the “Lombardi” property, which is owned by someone other than Mr. Karp, so Mr. Karp would have to buy it, and if the garage would have a similar plan to what was designed, lo those many years ago (which I always thought was a great design), I’m all for it.

The voters, the last time around voted for Mr. Moak, in part, because they didn’t want to pay tax payer dollars for a garage. But there doesn’t appear to be any chit chat here for tax payers paying for any garage.

Now the Lagasses (Ann Lagasse, who I remember, was on that “garage committee,” and a darned good committee it was too) weren’t going to pony up money (no Mr. Karp at that time) to co-author a garage on that spot (which in my mind is the only good spot for a garage). So why in the world would Mr. Karp?

Hope he does, I’d like it. I’d like it a lot.

The other thing I hear floating around, is no more Open Waterfront, but historically sensitive building on that Newburyport Redevelopment Authority property. Oy veh. Yet another idea. Here we go yet one more time.

Yes, let’s postpone this whole Waterfront shebang another 50 maybe another 100 years. It can only add to the Waterfront Saga.

And I’m excited about the designs coming in for an open Central Waterfront. Although, I recall, this has already been done before.

It was after Mr. Foster was finally defeated that I remember a design for those dirt parking lots in the front hall of Newburyport City Hall. Deja vu all over again.

Why are we so passionate about this last piece of Newburyport Redevelopment land? It’s as if we can’t let go of that last little bit.

So, I’m not putting any bets anywhere on this one. And I still don’t think that the Waterfront Opus is going to be resolved in my lifetime. Although, of course, I’d like it a lot if it actually was.

Mary Eaton
Newburyport