While newspapers as a whole diminish in size and impact in many cities, when I travel it is still a favorite activity to pick one up, and see what the news is in that locale. Today I read the RICHMOND TIMES DISPATCH... A theater, the Beacon, has been refurbished in a small city near Richmond, called Hopewell. Almost every city I know has a theater like this...at one time, maybe 60, 70 or even 80 years ago, it was the centerpiece of a thriving downtown. Cities slowly change, downtown dies, and the theater follows a sad path. Some are abandoned; some, like the Beacon, die a slow death. It served its last years as an X rated theater, before being boarded for good about 30 years ago. It became an eyesore with trees sprouting from the roof of the once proud building. Efforts to refurbish it began in 1987 but got bogged down in lawsuits, and disagreements over who would run it, and how to run it, as a for profit, or a not for profit, etc. It wasnt until TWENTY FIVE YEARS LATER, in 2012, that a judge finally ruled the theater should be turned over to the city. The last piece to the story is a sweet one. The contractor for the renovation, Jim Enochs, was born in 1928, the same year the theater opened. He has great childhood memories of the theater, and of Saturday afternoons, watching Westerns with popcorn and a Coke, as millions of kids of his generation did, and for him it is a labor of love. The theater is beautiful, and set to formally open within the month. Nice, sweet story. But a few paragraphs from the end was the most interesting part. They talked to two local politicians who OPPOSED the significant funding the project required, but they were in the minority, the project was approved, and subsequently progressed to completion. Here is what they said: one said his vote was a reflection of his constituents. He was trying to vote in accordance with the people he represented. But, now that it is done, he is fully committed to helping make the project work. I am fully behind the project and think Hopewell is moving in the right direction. The other official, a woman, had an emotional attachment to the building, having studied piano there as a child, but truly felt the city wasnt equipped to properly run it. But now, with the renovation basically complete, she is fully on board too. This could be a stepping stone to get the city back on track. We need to support it, and I hope it will be a success. This little episode-- in a city 99% of you have never heard of, in a narrative you were probably not familiar with, just as I was not--resonated with me. I was struck with again coming to terms with who I am, and why I believe certain things. In this case, I believe that THIS is how projects should ULTIMATELY result. Debate...vote your conscience...vote your constituents wishes, of course...then after the process, GET ON BOARD THE DAMN TRAIN! Make it work. The people who hired you deserve your best good faith effort to make it work. I have, regrettably, given up on national government EVER working like that. Most of us say we want it, but we dont. We would rather fight, and have something fail than support any initiative that isnt our own, and we find a million clever ways to justify it. Thats why I have no interest in politics. Thats why I have no faith in it. It has evolved into a perpetual game of gotcha. Aha! Here is a way I can make you sound foolish! Look! Here is a way I can justify being obtuse... Cleverness at the expense of intelligence, activity disguised as achievement. Stakes are too big nationally. The turfs to defend are too lush. But here in this little city, they argued, all right. It took a VERY long time. But now the debate part of the process is over, and they have a sparkling, beautiful gem of a theater... and everybody says they are pulling in the same direction. I am not COMPLETELY naive. I am sure there were lots of local back room politics at work... In fact, I GUARANTEE if there is one person who is dialed in to the local principles involved in this (of which I know NO ONE at all), he or she is busting out of their shoes wanting to explain to me why whoever was on the other side from him or her in this process, were REALLY the ones who delayed it, and, even now, they arent REALLY on board; etc. etc..... Maybe so. But I would rather keep my cynicism about politics to about the 85% it resides now, and cling to belief that locally, in small ways, in small cities like Hopewell, the end result is people really CAN work together and create something good, something special....like this wonderful little gem... Im rooting for ya Hopewell. Maybe I will come see a show in your beautiful new theater.
Posted on: Sun, 19 Jan 2014 18:24:00 +0000
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