In her editorial, “To globe or not to globe?,” Margie Meigs makes several statements about the Globe restoration project which are inaccurate.
She states that “work stalled in mid-April when the continents reportedly slid off the frame rendering them beyond repairs.” Not true.
There was an article in the 5/7/15 issue of the Golden Rain News by Randy Ankeny, GRF Executive Director, title “Rumors concerning the Leisure World Globe are put to rest.” In that article, Mr. Ankeny explained that only after all of the paint had been removed from the Globe, could the full extent of the corrosion of the continents be seen. At that point, some repairs were made to the structural steel components and work halted on the Globe. It was determined that the continents could not be repaired and would have to be replaced.
The photos that accompanied Mr. Ankeny’s article show that after the paint had been stripped from the Globe, the continents were still attached to the Globe. They had not slid off as claimed by Ms. Meigs. However, at the May meeting of the GRF Physical Property Committee, the Facilities Director did mention that part of the Greece had fallen off. According to the Minutes from this meeting, he also said that the sandblasting had been completed and “the Globe is mostly in fairly decent shape.” Only the continents have to be replaced. There are no plans to build a new Globe, as claimed by Ms. Meigs and her concern, as to “whether any of the debris left from the original globe is salvageable,” is totally unfounded.
Ms. Meigs further states that “any attempt to ‘replace’ the continents makes it a very expensive copy of the original.” Evidently, she does not have much experience with restoration projects. The situation that GRF has encountered with the Globe is one that vintage car restorers encounter all the time. Only after all of the paint has been stripped from a vintage car body, can the full extent of the corrosion be seen. At that point, decisions have to be made as to what areas of corrosion can be repaired and what areas have to be replaced. The same situation has been encountered with the Globe restoration project.
The new continents will be made of panels of sheet metal, like the old continents. They will look like old continents, except they will not have mountains. The new bronze color paint, which has been selected for the Globe, is similar to the original color. When the restoration is completed, the Globe will look more like it did, when it was first built.
Ms. Meigs states that at the July meeting of the Physical Property Committee, “it was decided to spend $23,893.60 to conduct a poll of all of the shareholders in Leisure World to ask whether they wanted to have a globe at the entrance or not.” Not true. At the July meeting, there was no vote to approve conducting a poll. I was at this meeting. Ms. Meigs was not. After the Project Coordinator presented some of the bids for replacing the continents, there was a brief discussion by committee members as to whether a poll should be conducted. The committee requested that the GRF staff find out how much it would cost to conduct a poll.
At the August meeting of the Physical Property Committee, which I attended and Ms. Meigs did not, the Committee decided not to conduct a poll and to proceed with the Globe restoration project, which will include the fabrication of new continents.
The Globe is a very valuable physical asset and it is the fiduciary duty of the GRF Board to maintain GRF’s physical assets. The Physical Property Committee faced intense lobbying by a small, but very vocal group of shareholders, who claim that our community needs to change the name Leisure World and get rid of the Globe, in order to improve our community’s image. The members of the Physical Property Committee are to be commended for standing their ground and performing their fiduciary duty.
In a letter to the GRF Board, the Orange County Historical Commission stated, “we encourage the GRF Board to make every effort to preserve and celebrate this iconic landmark.”
When the GRF Board meets to vote on the Globe restoration project, I hope it will vote to follow the recommendations of the Physical Property Committee and the Historical Commission.
Signe Merrifield, Shareholder Mutual 16
