About That Vending Machine

The vending machine that is supposed to make the blue trash bags available for purchase 24/7 has been standing in front of City Hall for six weeks now, unattractively wrapped in a gray plastic tarp.

Photo: Peter Jung

Last night, at the informal Common Council meeting, it was revealed why the machine is not yet in service. According to Alderman Henry Hadded (Third Ward), the machine needs electricity to operate, and there is no electrical outlet on the facade of City Hall.

Alderman Rick Rector (First Ward), who chairs the Historic Preservation Commission (which was not asked to grant a certificate of appropriateness to this protuberance on the facade of a historic building), asked that "the City investigate alternative positioning" for the vending machine. His suggestion for an alternative location was the new police and courts building. Alluding to the need to protect the machine from vandals and the people using it from muggers, Rector said of the alternative site, "They have cameras, and they're open 24 hours."

Alas, Rector's suggestion doesn't take into account that the "skin" of the vending machine was designed to "blend in" with the facade of City Hall, having been created using photographs of the building's Ionic columns and marble facade.

Photo: Peter Jung

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