“Unless one is wealthy there is no use in being a charming fellow. Romance is the privilege of the rich, not the profession of the unemployed. The poor should be practical and prosaic. It is better to have a permanent income than to be fascinating.
~ Oscar Wilde — The Model Millionaire”
A favourite childhood story was the tale of “The Selfish Giant” by Oscar Wilde. It tells of a beautiful garden owned by an absent owner - an ogre - in which the local children would play and enjoy the trees and flowers and the expansive tranquility of the park. One day the giant returns and expells the children from his private property, putting up a “Trespassers Will Be Prosecuted” sign, to make his position on the matter quite clear. With the children gone, a permanent winter sets in with frost, snow, icy winds and hail whilst beyond the walls of the garden the seasons come and go as usual. Eventually after years of winter, the wall begins to crumble from erosion and a hole appears in it. The children return to the garden through this hole and begin once again to play there at which point, Spring returns much to the Giant’s delight and he realises that it was his selfishness that caused the warmth and sunshine to disappear from his garden. He tears down the walls and invites the children in. At the end of the story, he dies happy and fulfilled at the foot of a cherry tree covered in blossom.
I was reminded of the power of children to invigorate places and to give them life and meaning, whilst listening last week at the Epsilon Connect colloquium in Nashville to the story of the rebirth of the abandoned Pearl Brewing Co. site and its transformation into one of the most vibrant and exciting inner city locations in the US. It is a story replete with lessons and inspirations.
Some history first, courtesy of the Texas State Historical Association.
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