This morning as I was exiting Market Basket over on Fort Eddy Road about 7:30 AM and heading to the car, I was stopped by a gentleman who seemed to be breathing fire. Although it was already getting warm out, his face seemed to flash anger.
“I am so tired of hearing you whine and complain about Concord”, he almost screamed. “Why don’t you find some other city to criticize and go there. Maybe you’ll be a lot happier.”
He stormed back to his SUV before I could ask him what specifically he was referring to so I could possibly address his concerns.
In addition to WKXL, I blog for Concord Patch and send an occasional letter to the Concord Monitor.
For a split second or two I found myself wondering whether I should be so vocal in my opinions, although I always try to be respectful of the rights of others to voice their opinions. In addition, I try to support my own thoughts with something beyond, “I just don’t like it”, or “That’s just the way I feel about it.”
I would like to think that I don’t come across as cranky or disagreeable or someone trying to impede progress as an obstructionist. I’d rather believe that having lived in this community for more than half a century and making an effort to absorb the community and its residents as well as to listen, enables me to have at least a passing background to share thoughts and ideas of some merit.
For the record, I attended Concord schools, spent more than a quarter century working downtown at both The Concord Theatre and at the Endicott Hotel. I also worked at Blue Cross and Blue Shield for 7 1/2 years and for the Department of Motor Vehicles for 2 1/2 years.
The years spent working on Main Street as well as being an active shopper from the age of 7 or 8, has given me some insight into our downtown. I’ve seen a lot of change and have talked to and listened to scores of business owners carp and complain as well as extol the pluses for being located in the heart of the City.
When I voice my concerns around the forthcoming overhaul of Main Street, it is coming from a place of deep concern not a refusal to recognize that change can be a good thing.
As a child I actively sought out older members of the Concord Community as a means of finding out everything I could about the city and its history.
Theresa Cantin who ran the Concord Theatre from 1934 until 1994 was a wealth of knowledge and into the lobby of the Concord Theatre came virtually every member of our city at one time or another. What I witnessed, on the other hand, at the Endicott, would make New Hampshire resident Grace Metalious’ book, Peyton Place” seem as naive as the Baltimore Catechism.
I’ve stood in the cavernous waiting area of our late lamented railroad station and stared upward at the seemingly endless ceiling feeling as though I were standing in the Louvre. Such memories from childhood remain forever.
It’s because of remembrances such as that I voice my concerns and urge caution as the city rushes headlong into a change that will not easily be undone should it fail to measure up to all of the advance hoopla.
I would be called irresponsible if I ran my home in a way as to make major renovation plans without any thought as to how it would be fully paid for. And yet, there are still huge gaping holes in the funding stream for this overhaul.
Our streets are in horrible shape and we cannot even keep our swimming pools open beyond August 9th and yet we are ready to possibly spend millions on an “idea”, having apparently not learned from past “ideas” (the destruction of the railroad station, Eagle Square and Bicentennial Square among them) that never quite measured up to what, in some instances, was lost.
For years I have argued that we need to make changes on Main Street to bring a new vitality and energy to the area. I have not simply sat back and carped but have tried to take an active role in making a difference.
Years ago I contacted Nan Hagen then Director of Main Street, urging her to help bring lighted holiday displays back to downtown. For decades Concord’s Main Street and surrounding streets were ablaze with glorious lights which invited shoppers, by their sheer magic, to stop and spend some money. I even offered to donate the first $ 1,000 toward the project. My idea was rejected and Concord continues to hold the dubious distinction of being the only State Capital in the USA without holiday lights.
We hear people asking to make Concord more like Portsmouth, Keene or Littleton, all of which are aglow with holiday lights from Thanksgiving until New Years.
I even applied for the Main Street Director position when Nan left but never had an interview for that either, although I continued to offer suggestions as to how Concord might be resuscitated. In fact last July I met with a group of merchants and interested parties to discuss a plan to bring back the holiday lights at no cost to any merchant or resident, researching the expense and how they could be paid for, in full, with a benefit holiday concert. Again, no one ever followed-up with the data I provided after exhaustive research.
For the past year I donated more than 2,000 volunteer hours to a local non-profit, wanting to give back to our community.
I note these only because it’s important that readers recognize that what might be perceived as complaining and finding fault or impeding a forward motion is in actuality a deep concern for the future of Concord, New Hampshire and a realization that a considerable chunk of our history is at risk of being altered.
Visitors throughout the years have stood and smiled at what a lovely downtown Concord boasts of and through the decades and thousands of walks through our streets, I have never ceased to look with pleasure at what surrounds me. Turning it into a veritable two lane road/park is not going to make it a retail mecca filled with throngs of visitors and locals seeking to boost the economy.
For now then, I’ll continue to risk being accosted at a grocery store and urged to move away rather than stop speaking out for a city I love and will continue to love whatever the outcome.
If we don’t learn from our past mistakes and recognize our rich history, we risk creating a future that while on the surface may be picture pretty, will be barely skin deep.
