Preserve Old Village

Nationally syndicated columnist and Plymouth born 1936 PHS graduate Russell Kirk first brought to national attention, the plight of a dying Old Village in Plymouth, and neighborhoods like it across America. In his 1970 column “To the Point”, he wrote a piece titled “Town Shops of Yore May Be on Way Back”. There was a follow up to the piece in the Plymouth Mail and Observer on July 11, 1970 by Editor Fred DeLano. Kirk stated that “Old Village Died Hard”, began dying when the bank on Liberty Street was closed by the Roosevelt moratorium during the Great Depression, and death of the neighborhood was accelerated by World War II, by parking problems, by the neighborhood not being designed in age of the automobile for high traffic. Other culprits he labeled were urban sprawl, shopping malls, loss of public transportation. However he also stated he was happy to see the beginnings of a revival of the neighborhood and new businesses there.

The revival Kirk spoke of has been on going for over 45 years. Today, OV is thriving, the Liberty Street block and entire neighborhood is hopping, historic homes are being restored beautifully, and anyone who regularly visits OV knows it is a local hot spot and desirable place to live. I was born in 1960, raised in the home that my GG Grandfather George Starkweather built in Old Village, have been a witness my entire life to this revival Kirk wrote about 45 years ago. In my opinion, it’s time for residents, business owners and city officials in Plymouth to start patting each other on their backs, say “job well done”, “we did it”, “we saved Old Village”, and now hit the brakes on any further major development or demolitions there, and preserve.

If any major development is to be done, it should be to improve what public greenspace and historic properties are left, upgrade, maintain, instead of potentially piling on more parking spaces, converting more residential homes to business, tearing down historic structures to make way for parking lots, invite in modern mini strip malls.

Adding to the congestion and threatening historic structures in OV is not a public benefit, will make Plymouth a less than desirable place to live, cause harm to the historic significance and livability of the area, cause retail business to again decline. Such would cause much of the good and hard work that has been done by many for the past 45 years, to be un-done. More traffic, more congestion will cause historic homes and buildings give way to parking lots, since the first result of major housing developments will be complaints about lack of parking. That added congestion will spread toward Kellogg Park.

If the housing development on the Starkweather School site is allowed, some, but not all new residents will walk to businesses in OV. In winter, few will walk up the hill from Plymouth Road. They will drive and park. The exit ramp that the Plymouth Preservation Network VP was advocating for during the March 11 City Planning Commission meeting will aggravate the traffic and parking situation if built. Folks who patronize the Liberty Street block know it is already difficult if not impossible to find a parking place between Mill and Starkweather during peak times. The added congestion will only compound the problem that the recently approved Starkweather Station development will bring.

I don’t believe Kirk or the folks who began the task of reviving Old Village over 45 years ago, had massive re development of a historic neighborhood in mind. The broken model of urban sprawl, shopping centers, housing developments on edges of towns, is being attempted here. Urban sprawl in reverse - that is - applying those elements to a neighborhood that was nearly destroyed by such. This idea should be struck from the City Master Plan, and a new plan be drawn, with principals of historic preservation and promoting local business in mind.

Old Village was platted and designed during the time of grist mills, steam trains and horse and buggies. Built as a small commerce center for a neighborhood in a town with a population of less than two thousand. To attempt now to re-create it as a major shopping mall on outskirts of a large town, will ultimately destroy another slice of historic Americana.

On July 8, the Plymouth City Planning Commission will vote on the Starkweather School site proposal. The plan I believe is a bad idea; school boards should not be involved in deciding the fates of historic neighborhoods.

To quote Kirk from his above article, in hopes Plymouth City Hall take heed of his 45 years ago advice: “In commerce, as in government, the cult of the colossal is a dreary and arid worship. Give me the Liberties, of Liberty Street”.