Sounds like a bit of a paradox. You can't imagine what you haven't seen. But, what is imagination if not dreaming up something that doesn't exist?
Well, imagination is a bit more complicated than that. I am no psychologist or psychiatrist but as the classic commercial says, "But, I did stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night." (Perhaps I just dated myself with that TV commercial reference.)
Imagination is a compilation, in new order and significance, of what we have already seen or experienced.
OK, so what does this have to do with the City of Yukon, where we find ourselves?
Last month, I dropped into NYC, arriving on a very convenient direct flight from Will Rogers World Airport into LaGuardia.
I was expecting the depressing, decades-old façade with equally depressing thoroughfares leading to crowded spaces filled with angry people waiting on their preferred mode of transit.
To my pleasant surprise, I was greeted by an expansive, high-end dining and retail experience punctuated by freely moving travelers who seemed genuinely delighted to be there. This was a welcome substitute for the old LaGuardia of yore.
But, how did this happen? Who had the imagination to bring this to fruition?
I embarked on a journey to find out. The architects that dreamed this into reality were HOK, in collaboration with WSP. The HOK + WSP team had their hand in other aviation landmarks like O'Hare's Terminal 5 expansion, Salt Lake's Passenger Terminal, and the Atlanta International passenger terminal.
Now that I have seen this, my imagination is re‑enlightened with new possibilities.
And that's where this story circles back to Yukon. Whether it's Main Street, Yukon Parkway, our parks, or other civic spaces — what could we imagine here, together? What haven't we seen yet because no one has dreamed it into being?