Bremerton is a place of contrasts.

Most curious of these contrasts is the aesthetic dichotomy, a balance between breathtaking beauty and, well, ugliness.

With its vistas of water, mountains and trees, it takes its rightful slot among the most picturesque in one of the most picturesque places in the world.

It has a world class waterfront, and the charming Manette Bridge.

On the other hand, once a person treads a couple short blocks into the city and encounters the monstrous J.C. Penney building and the artless Warren Avenue Bridge, Bremerton loses a bit of its luster.

Tack on the fact that the Manette Bridge is slated for destruction, and its replacement will look more like the Warren Avenue Bridge, and one might wonder where to find the belching smoke stacks and Biff Tannen’s Pleasure Paradise Casino and Hotel.

An argument could be made that with all the natural beauty, Bremerton needn’t spend money on pretty things. The relatively small amount spent on art could be spent on more worthwhile projects.

And that argument would be as wrong as a Bainbridge Island graffiti artist.

Bremerton needs pretty things to look at, to remind residents that this is the beginning, not the end.

In 100 years, those potholes that irk you now won’t be the subject of anybody’s kitchen table conversation.

But in 100 years, people will still be saying, “That fish statue, I don’t know. I wonder what those people were thinking.”