In response to this story yesterday, I got a very eloquent e-mail from Christopher Carten and I thought I'd share:

I think you missed a major aspect of the Garden and its impact on downtown St. Petersburg. They not only served as a bistro but they also served as a venue for musicians and poets. The Garden has long been a place to go on the weekends to listen to live jazz. They have had the same band for a couple of decades but there are constantly guest musicians that join in the performance. They would often engage Skat Man Dan, an elderly resident, in joining them for a few sets. He would perform skat that someone half his age could barely do. There were also hundreds of poetry shows where professional poets and amateurs alike could come express themselves in a public setting. The Garden was and is far more than a simple restaurant. It is one of the cornerstones of the downtown scene and is irreplaceable. I would really like to see a report that expresses the huge impact the closing of this venue will have to the community; not just in dollars lost, but in the loss to our quality of life.

Please, if you are to have any understanding of the value of the Garden, look beyond Jack's scandal, beyond the numerous owners and chefs, and look into the lives this place has influenced through the music and poetry it has brought to the ears and hearts of everyone who travels downtown.