ISSUE #268: Aspen and the Politics of Public Memory (1/28/24)
March 12 "If anyone tries to penetrate the past with the knife of the present will always act in vain. The past is invulnerable. Such attempts can only cause the present or the future to bleed."
-- Simon Schwartz
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ASPEN TIMES COLUMN Welcome new subscribers! And thanks to all of you who continue to forward The Red Ant to your friends and neighbors. The recent enthusiasm has been unbelievable and I am eternally grateful for the support! A couple of housekeeping items as we get used to "the newsletter" again: I am planning to continue writing "a column" every two weeks, but we'll see how that shakes out. There may be "Ants" more frequently too as news of the day dictates. Say hello to "The Naughty Box." I heard the term on a recent vacation and knew it was just the vehicle to share "highlights" from our elected representatives, public servants and members of the press. Think of it as a police blotter, Red Ant style. See below. (Please feel free to contribute - I protect my sources!) And lastly, the pins are in! Contact me for your Torre-Gate pin. It's never the crime. It's the cover-up. Aspen and the Politics of Public Memory What is going on around here? This past fall, the community was surprised by SkiCo’s strange and unexpected re-naming of the newly-expanded Pandora’s terrain on Aspen Mountain and literally rocked by the sudden announcement that the Aspen Music Festival and School’s iconic Benedict Tent would be renamed following a $17 million philanthropic gift by the organization’s board chair. In a place where perhaps the one last thing we all have in common is the value this community places on maintaining its shared history, are these just two alarming attempts at revisionist history, or does it portend more ill-conceived name changes to come? Re-naming is not a new phenomenon. The George Floyd incident and BLM riots of 2020 exacerbated the widespread pressure on public institutions and universities to remove statues and re-name buildings that previously honored individuals whose beliefs, affiliations and activities no longer align with their current missions and values. Included in recent de-naming efforts have been slave owners and segregationists, pharmaceutical manufacturers and Jeffrey Epstein affiliates, among other unsavory names and contentious figures. But locally, those reasons had no bearing on why “our” names were changed. Here, as is our penchant, it’s more often than not the result of unforced errors: someone trying to be clever, or maybe even an emotional reaction to the loss of a leader or an unexpected financial windfall. For whatever reasons, both name changes are unmitigated fails. Pandora’s In September 2023, SkiCo announced it was re-naming the soon-to-open new terrain formerly known as “Pandora’s” in an effort “to honor all of those who played an instrumental role in the exploration and opening of Aspen Mountain’s new terrain.” Sounds well-intended enough, aside from the fact they re-named it “Hero’s.” Hero’s? Who is this Hero for whom we have supplanted Pandora and named not only the terrain but also the lift? Gramatically, “hero’s” is singular possessive, as in “a hero’s welcome.” And as it turns out, “Hero” is actually a slew of local ski icons, which further begs the question, why not “Heroes,” as in “the heroes of Aspen?” Or better yet, why not name the new runs for honored individuals but simply keep the area “Pandora’s,” the name we’ve called it for years and by which it went through the lengthy and controversial public approval process? I personally think of “heroes” as veterans, first responders and the like – those who put their lives at risk to save to save others, who run into burning buildings, etc. Best I can tell, those bestowed with trail names are arguably well-deserving “honorees,” most of whom are locally well respected and several who notably lost their lives in tragic accidents. But are they “heroes?” The new quad lift takes just four-and-a-half minutes to reach the top, plenty of time to contemplate the odd name choice. Undoubtedly an emotional and reactionary response to the tragic death of SkiCo managing partner Jim Crown in June, surely there was a more appropriate way to honor the man. Even “Jim’s” would have been better. Just call it Pandora’s. The Benedict Music Tent Then in December, it was announced that the Aspen Music Festival and School had received an unprecedented gift from board chair Michael Klein, and for this donation, the AMFS would be re-naming the 2050-seat music tent the “Michael Klein Music Tent” for the next 25 years. While originally deemed the “Aspen Ampitheater,” in 1993 it became the “Bayer-Benedict Tent” to honor its architects Herbert Bayer and Fritz Benedict. The 2000-era Harry Teague-designed tent was then named the “Benedict Music Tent” to honor the longtime leadership of Fritz Benedict, both in the community and of the AMFS. While marked by name changes over the years, the tent’s name changes were notably never tied to the “sale” of naming rights. The fall-out was swift and unequivocal, and continues in letters to the editor to this day:
It would appear that Aspen jumped on the de-naming bandwagon when we really had no reason to do so. As other institutions respond to de-naming pressures and attempt to establish rational and defensible frameworks along with transparent processes (“De-name very rarely and only when necessary under exceptional and narrow circumstances.” – UNC Chapel Hill), Aspen seems to have just hauled off and made changes, public memory and sentiment be damned. According to Town & Country in 2021, “Traditionally, naming rights have been viewed by the rich and civic-minded as a way to imprint their names on history while helping the organizations they support to build endowments, acquire masterpieces and undertake ambitious expansion plans.” Over the past two decades, this has become “a competitive sport” that even includes the ridiculous naming of restrooms and coat checks. Some speculate that this trend is changing and that “parading one’s wealth” is becoming a sign of bad taste. There are increasing instances of donors declining naming opportunities and even announcements of their gifts. New scrutiny and the risk of public backlash stand to create a chilling effect, and therefore it’s a tricky balance for institutions reliant on philanthropic dollars. That’s obviously where the AMFS finds itself today. Mr. Klein is clearly an extremely generous and committed donor to the AMFS. I have had a hard time tracking down the genesis of this naming issue: whether it was his idea or the organization’s. No one is talking. But it’s obvious that nobody anticipated the widespread backlash, and for that it’s a true shame. There is surely a way to properly honor Mr. Klein for his extraordinary gift; it’s just not re-naming the Benedict Music Tent. The same holds true for other local landmarks. Remember when SkiCo tried to rename Buttermilk “Tiehack?” Some things are best left alone. Public memory is an integral part of history. Besides, each time I see the odd nomenclature of “Hero’s,” I can’t help but think of Nero, you know, the guy who fiddled while Rome burned. EM |
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