Beautification Should Be a Team Sport in Revere

The recent appearance all over the city of open triple barrel set-ups on sidewalks with an advertising component is well intentioned but in the end, it is not right for the city.

At a time when Mayor Dan Rizzo is seeking to change the image of the city, these new trash barrel set-ups, painted black and holding the barrels on a pedestal, are simply out of step with the new aesthetic Mayor Rizzo and his chief development director John Festa have in mind for Broadway and for the rest of the city.

City Council President Richard Penta has also asked to be counted as one of those opposed to the set-ups which are not locked down to the sidewalks where they have been placed and where they compare unfavorably in look and feel to the rather well constructed period style black steel barrels which have rounded exteriors made of grated steel.

“On some of the sidewalks where some of these have been placed it has made walking around them on the sidewalk an effort that nearly puts pedestrians into the street,” Penta noted.

“I’m disappointed with them. I don’t think they are the right thing for the city,” he added.

The three barrel system is wide open to the elements and to rodents and to people who will take their trash bags and tend to toss them on the series of containers.

The more containers there are, the worse the trash accumulation will be.

This well-meaning effort is the handi-work of the Revere Beautification Committee.

In return for advertising on the front of the three barrel groupings, the committee apparently received a payment from the company that is providing the barrels and the platforms.

If Revere was Boston, that would be a very successful effort because the demands of advertisers can barely be met and such advertising on the platforms would be seen by hundreds of thousands passing by.

Revere is not Boston.

Who, we wonder, is going to advertise on those platforms with barrels?

And what exactly is that advertising worth and will the city and the Beautification Committee share the wealth assuming there is any?

The new barrel set-ups are inconsistent with what this city needs to create a better image.

The mayor, the city council president and John Festa need to meet with the Beautification Committee to see if a more aesthetic product can replace the present one.

Again, it is a well intentioned effort but it frankly does not fit.