<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR> Signing steel at Bethel Woods

By CHARLIE BUTERBAUGH

BETHEL, NY — Just over a year from now, final details will be fleshed out as the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts prepares for its July 1, 2006 inaugural concert.

Last week, as workers finished assembling the steel skeleton of the performing arts pavilion, Bethel Woods held a topping-off ceremony, where invited guests signed the final beam before it was lifted into place, high above the floor of the 4,800-seat venue.

Alan Gerry, who purchased the 1969 Woodstock Festival site almost 10 years ago, was introduced as a “gardener of hope and architect of dreams” by Gerry Foundation Executive Director Jonathan Drapkin.

Gerry humored the crowd of about 200, saying he hopes “there will be more people” when the New York Philharmonic performs in July 2006. “Otherwise, we’ll all be in trouble.”

Gerry said, “This high point in construction marks the completion of the steel phase of the pavilion. We are on schedule and excited about opening in just over a year. We cannot give enough thanks to the men and women who have labored to bring us here today.”

Ground was broken on the 65-acre development in July 2004. By the time the project is completed, the contractors will have moved 200,000 cubic yards of earth and paved 47,000 square yards. At 56,000 square feet, the pavilion roof is more than an acre. It will have 1,600 light fixtures, 220 doors, 150 windows, 5.8 miles of plumbing and sprinkler piping and 80,000 pounds of copper roofing.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Sigh... I don't know what to say, except ... I tried.

You fought the good fight, Wyld. Just sometimes Goliath wins.

So sorry to hear about that. hat land is sacred ground...

Sorry Wyld. I'm beginning to think that we're fast becoming an endangered species, we elder "flower children". Well, I guess we just have to keep keepin' on. It was both a terrible and wonderful little piece of time that we lived in (and still live in, really) and we have that to hold on to and be proud of. Not just Woodstock, but the whole vibe of that time and generation. We have that and no amount of steel, concrete or indifference can take it away.

<img src="http://www.arlo.net/ubb/smilies/peace.gif" width=16 height=16>
Captain Zap

We know you did your best, Wyld. There was no interest in preserving the site coz it was something that was important to peace-loving hippies. Had it been the site of a famous battle where Indians were slaughtered or the home of a union-busting robber baron, it surely woulda been glorified & preserved & probably turned into a tourist trap.

You did try. That's all you can do.

there are still "flower children"...even younger than us!! gorgeous people.

anyways, woodstock isn't a place, it's a state of mind.

Thank you, everyone, for the support... I know I did my best... but it still hurts a bit.

Agnes, you are so right, though ... Woodstock is a state of mind, and WE are all part of that! Thank you!!!