Vision for city is old and outdated

By Nancy Read Hutchings

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I try to visit my hometown of Marion nearly every year, as I did again last month. It seems each time I return to what has always been a delightful prototype of small-town America, there is another harebrained proposal afoot to decimate the heart and soul of your/our town.

I wonder if many citizens of Marion make any effort to become educated, invested participants in city government. Can you still discern (or do you care) that you're being “sold” someone's personal vision of Marion as they would like to see it?

Are you aware of how many businesses have left Marion, further eroding your tax base? Are you at all concerned at how much private property lies in the path of the proposed corridor realignment plan?

Having been affiliated with a national architectural and city planning firm for many years, let me warn you that the concept of a “pedestrian mall” where remote parking is established in hopes people hoof it to a designated shopping area and blissfully wander from store to store in some theatrically contrived setting was conceived and promoted in the '80s and has been an abject failure in virtually every place it's been tried, with a few exceptions along waterfront areas. Citizens of Marion, there ain't no river running through your town!

First, Thomas Park was disassembled; the beautiful public swimming pool within the park setting was ripped out. Then the bridge over Indian Creek goes; then Lincoln School (a landmark building over 100 years old) and now most recently the original Marion High School. And that's just what I noticed driving around.

Uptown is rife with antique stores, which are not essential services and do not draw dynamic active commerce.

The icing on the cake is the wackadoodle corridor realignment scheme that literally tears out the heart of your town. What's next?

Andrew Carnegie endowed selected libraries around the United States many years ago and Marion is lucky enough to have one. Do you know the history of that building or has it, too, been added to your list of landmarks to chuck aside?

Churches? You have two beautiful old churches left (the Methodist and the Presbyterian) that cannot be replicated today. So what do I read in the Marion Times?

Apparently, a “progressive” young pastor without the insight to preserve this landmark or the creativity to solve spatial/growth issues has decided to relocate his congregation to the “new” Marion. Cross another irreplaceable edifice off the list of purpose-built structures.

I live in Las Vegas where we tag any structure over 40 years old as an implosion target. Heck, sometimes we just get bored and blow up a $2 billion hotel/casino for the show. We don't have the aesthetic advantage of a town “center” to preserve as you do.

I urge you, people of Marion, to value and protect what you have, as is the trend now in small towns across the country. The “city planning” vision of the '80s being sold by your city council is no longer in vogue, nor even desirable.

Find a way to let Marion reflect its mid-America ambiance and heritage while embracing a common sense, intelligent plan to encourage growth and new business.

If I were still a resident of Marion, I would have supported Allen “Snooks” Bouska for mayor (he was elected on Nov. 8). As a successful businessman, he understands the value of a vibrant and growing Marion, but not at the expense of losing all that is historical and worthy of preservation.

Nancy Read Hutchings, 1966 graduate of Marion High School, is a Realtor with extensive experience in custom-home design and management in civil engineer and architecture/interior design. Comments: nhutchingsnv@gmail.com