The Sign

I'm not really too fussed about how much money the flirtation with Carnegie Mellon did or didn't cost us. Not every risk pays off.

But what does shit me off is this number. And their sign.

Not to read too much into signs, but this 220 could stand as a symbol for how I live in Adelaide. Always, just slightly to the side.

The Torrens Building, at 220 Victoria Square, was, back in the 90s after many years of standing empty and many years of negotiations, co-habitated by a bunch of community organisations and NGOs.

It could have been great. As is the way with a great many things. But all sorts of things made it a hard building in which to reside. No signage was one of those things. Can't we just have the number displayed we tenants asked the landlords (which was, to all intents and purposes, the government).

No. This building is heritage listed. Don't mess with its facade.

And I get that, I do. But do you know how hard it is to explain the address of a building on Victoria Square. Do you know where the State Admin building is? We're next to that. No, that's the Treasury Building. The other side. Yes, opposite the Cathedral. That's it. No, there's no sign. No number.

We were community organisations. With volunteers.

And then, as soon as Carnegie Mellon moved in. A number. And a sign.