Originally published at:
http://wesleying.org/2012/11/17/mayor-drew-thinks-bookstore-move-is-a-good-idea/
"Despite all the
brouhaha over the potential Wesleyan
bookstore relocation—including dissenting voices from Middletown resident
Jen Alexander ’88 and Red & Black owner
Ed Thorndike ’89—Mayor
Dan Drew remains committed to supporting the development on economic
grounds. In a press conference on Wednesday, Drew praised developer Bob
Landino’s proposal as a potential job-creator in Middletown. As
Middletown Patch reports:
“This will bring a $6 million influx of funds into the
Middletown economy,” said Mayor Dan Drew. “It will create 30 full-time
jobs in the development complex.”
Joining Drew at a press conference in council chamber of city hall were Robert A. Landino, president and CEO of Centerplan Construction; Gerry Daley, longtime chair of the Economic Development Commission; and Larry McHugh, president of the Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce.
Drew also compared the model to William and Mary College (though this
slab of Washington Street is at least a few blocks from Middletown’s
“historic downtown”) and praised Landino’s connections to the Middletown
community (read: he’s not from “New York or Boston or Chicago”):
“It’s a model extremely similar to what’s been done at
William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va.,” Drew said — a university
bookstore in the heart of an historic downtown. [ . . . ]
“If this were a developer swooping in from New York or Boston or
Chicago that we didn’t know, it would create a tremendous amount of
concern,” but, Drew said, Landino is a “known quantity” working with
local Realtors, local architects and engineering firms.
Many of the reader comments, interestingly, are in favor of the
move—and less in favor of Wesleyan’s involvement with it. As one “Jane”
voices:
cant say I trust Wesleyan much with it’s promises to our
town- those jobs will probably go to their students not what they call
“townies”- people have a short term memory with promises to open the
athletic center to our community- its not as accessible as they had us
believe-"
For more on the controversies surrounding the bookstore proposal, click
here or
here.
I'm in favor of pulling new business into town, but:
ReplyDeletePart of what makes Middletown what it is are the buildings. The buildings on Washington Street are part of the charm and ambiance. There are empty buildings on Main Street. Would it not make more sense to put new businesses into existing buildings instead of pulling down and rebuilding?
Ken McClellan