The City Council’s decision to close Second Avenue SE from 10th to 12th streets still seems wrong. It created a disorganized and dangerous traffic pattern and has destroyed the beauty of convenience of a historic street leading downtown.

There were plenty of suitable sites for a medical office building other than in the middle of a street. Furthermore, the City Council approved $8 million in questionable TIF funding to the Physicians’ Clinic of Iowa project (for a parking ramp). How do these giveaways to the rich promote the good life for the rest of us?

Look at what could have been: beautiful city parks surrounding three historic churches, including the demolished First Christian Church with its fine architecture and the priceless artistry of the Louis Millet stained glass windows.

City planners ignored the integrity and history of a neighborhood and renamed it a “medical district,” paving it over with asphalt parking lot and a widened street that comes within a few feet of the First Lutheran Church altar. This is a farce.

Destruction of historic landmarks needs to be resisted more firmly.

Hal Sondrol

Cedar Rapids