Around Town Around Town (March 30, 2005)

NUT HOUSE MURAL ... Mohamed Soumah, the Guinean artist who enlivened California Avenue's Country Sun last year with a colorful mural, is being commissioned by the city's Public Art Commission for a second painting on Palo Alto's other downtown drag. This time, Soumah will paint a mural for Antonio's Nut House, the bar known for having peanut shells on the ground and a contentious relationship with noise-sensitive neighbors. The $10,000 for the artwork will come completely from private sources, including $5,000 from Tony Montooth, the bar's owner. The preliminary concept for the project, which the commission has not yet approved, is for the painting to represent life inside the bar, which could include images of Montooth, well-known bartenders and familiar customers. The Nut House is a popular hangout spot for Stanford University students. "Antonio's is just an icon," commissioner Gerald Brett said. "You may as well commemorate it with a mural." Meanwhile, on May 1, the Public Art Commission is planning to host a celebration at the Country Sun mural, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The artist will probably begin his work on the bar's wall soon after that gala, Brett said.

PUBLIC BATHROOM MOVING... Those with small bladders, take note: in the coming weeks, Palo Alto's Public Works Department is going to move the public toilet in Lytton Plaza. The forest green, self-washing bathroom is heading over to University Avenue's train station, which is currently getting a refurbishing. The request for the toilet, which was originally made-in-France, came from the Valley Transportation Authority, the agency running the construction project. Apparently, the historic depot has had "sanitation issues that this will hopefully resolve," according to Mike Sartor, the deputy director of the city's Public Works Department. Since the city's two newest parking garages both had bathrooms, Sartor said, "we felt we were well-covered in that area." The city first placed the toilet in Lytton Plaza in 1998.

ENOUGH LOVE? ... Tennis players have served up controversy after controversy in Palo Alto in recent years, often complaining about a lack of place to play when the city threatens to close courts. So in fall 2004, the city undertook a survey of tennis court use. The review concluded that there are enough public tennis courts for all the Palo Altans who play the sport recreationally. There are 58 public courses in the city and approximately 6,000 tennis players, it noted. "Overall, it is possible to walk on any of the tennis courts in Palo Alto, weekday or weekend, and be able to secure a court for tennis activities." However, the report did find that the courts maintained by the school district at Jordan and JLS middle schools are in poor quality. City recreation officials are planning to talk with school officials about the possibility of trying to renovate the courts since that would "add considerably to the overall usable tennis court inventory available to the community." The city's Parks and Recreation Commission reviewed the 13-page report last week.

DANG DONUTS ... A small orange fence has been placed around Palo Alto's Ramos Park, on East Meadow Avenue, but there's no construction going on. Instead, city staff put the enclosure up to let the grass grow back after an incident of vandalism. Apparently, someone drove a car into the park and spun "donuts" around and around a few weeks ago, according to Paul Dias, the city's parks and golf manager. The fence should be gone in a week or so, Dias said late last week.

THE MAYOR'S DAUGHTER ... Palo Alto Mayor Jim Burch's daughter was one of 56 teachers granted tenure by the Palo Alto school district last week, and the proud papa attended the school board meeting where she received her permanent status last Tuesday. The educator in question, Barbara Lindsay, a fourth-grade teacher at Walter Hays Elementary School, has been a substitute teacher for years, Burch said. She has a special way of rewarding the good kids, he noted -- she gives them tickets when they do something good and when they collect enough, they get to have "Breakfast with Mrs. Lindsay" before school.

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