You may recall just after Governor Mitch won the election, he raised quite a stir by claiming that he would not move into the Governor's residence on Meridian Street in the historic Meridian-Kessler neighborhood. He preferred to stay in his Geist mansion. When the media ripped him for this, he came out with a long list of "updates" the mansion would need before he could live there. Claiming that it was very important to him to not spend tax payer dollars on the "renovations", Mitch came up with a great plan to have construction firms "volunteer" their services in exchange for future state bids on construction projects to repair the residences. I won't even touch on the ethics of that deal... but these firms have donated more than $800K in services to date.
So with the residence functionally repaired, it came time to beautify it. And someone on Mitch's staff came up with a very good idea. Loan the house out to the St. Margaret's Hospital Guild as the 2006 Decorator's Show House. Indiana decorators would redecorate the residence at their cost, and Indiana residents would have access to the Governor's Residence they don't normally have and Wishard Health Services would have their best ever fund raiser thanks to the St. Margaret's Hospital Guide and the First Family.
Right before Christmas word came out that there was some creative differences between the decorators and the Governor's residence renovation commission. The Commission was concerned over "baboon wallpaper." I can understand and even appreciate a concern that wild differences between decorators may lead to a strange appearance in a traditional mansion. But no way should "creative differences" kill the bigger picture of what this partnership offered. Comprimises can be made, decorations can be removed, wallpaper can come back down, paint can be painted over. How many people really liked everything that was done to their homes when "Trading Spaces" came to town. I'm guessing a few rooms were changed after the fact.
But Nooooooooooooo!!!! The last week of December, for the first time in 45 years, the event was cancelled due to a breakdown between the decorators and the Governor's residence renovation commission. Daniel's quote shows just how out of touch the man can be.
Daniels said he realized decorators traditionally show their individuality at such show houses, but "this one year it was supposed to be about the home and not about the decorators."Hello, they are decorators? If you don't want their ideas, it's not really a Decorator's Showcase. Barbara Arlington of Arlington Interiors summed it up best.
"I'm willing to adjust to the changes that are being requested, but not if I can't present my creative ability. Designers aren't going to be dictated to," she said. "I think if both sides give a little bit, it can be resolved. But there has to be some give and take -- anything that is not permanent should be at the designer's discretion."But in the end, the Governor wouldn't budge and so, Wishard Health Services loses out, the residents of Indiana lose out, the decorators lose out, the St. Margaret's Hospital Guild loses out and the Governor's residence loses out. But ultimately, the Indiana taxpayer is going to lose out as someone else is going to have to foot the bill to decorate the residence up to the quality of Mitch... and I doubt it will come out of Mitch's pocket.
A few articles on the subject:
Mansion's redesign stirs friction - courier-journal.com
Governor's residence won't be show house - courier-jounal.com
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