Concord's Dead-End Street

Yesterday morning, as I was leaving Market Basket on Storrs Street and heading across the parking lot to my car, I stopped to take notice of the construction work you can view on the new building that will house, among other things, Concord’s beloved Gibson’s Bookstore. I certainly felt a tingle of excitement as I anticipated the many options the increased space will provide Michael and his talented team. Gibson’s is one of a rapidly dwindling number of downtown destination stops on Main Street, a street that is unfortunately becoming this city’s dead end.

The passage of time and the gathering of wisdom from life’s events is one of the real joys in getting older. You become almost fearless in expressing opinions and speaking up when you feel your voice has a reason to be heard.

Concord’s Main Street has been a part of my life for well over half a century. I worked for 27 years on Main Street at the Concord Theatre until it closed.  I also worked at the Endicott Hotel and managed Big John’s Restaurant, once located at the foot of Pleasant on the corner of Storrs Street.

I watched, observed and listened to what people said – tens of thousands of them as they passed through the doors of the theatre or dined on food that was less than exciting at the restaurant. I also spent thousands of dollars shopping in our downtown stores through the years, developing warm relationships with the owners and staff and partaking in the genuine sense of community that a vital and alive downtown can embody like nothing else can.

Many readers of my book, “Was That a Name I Dropped?” commented on how well I captured, in writing, all of the reasons that that strip of real estate known as “Downtown Concord” had and continues to have value far beyond what can be described in a few sentences.

While my musings about Concord are often bathed in a haze of warm nostalgia for the days of the five and dime, I loudly cheered the development of Bicentennial Square and of Eagle Square, which was widely touted as being Concord’s own “Faneuil Hall Marketplace” but somehow never was.

I supported Callahan’s Steakhouse and the Millstone and tried to shop some of the other stores that unfortunately too often offered specialty items and not items you would purchase on a regular basis.

More and more it seems as though the people making the decisions about our downtown are not people who really “get it.”

I’ve heard someone refer to the expanse of Main Street looking like a “bowling alley.”

For as long as I can remember, however, standing on the corner of Park and Main and looking down Main Street toward the south, stretched a world of endless possibilities. As a child it meant places to shop and get my favorite comic book, places to eat, movies to see and surprises in store as you could expect the unexpected and know with certainty that you’d run into people you knew. Main Street represented the heart and pulse of a city you were proud to be a part of.

Lately, it feels out of control – a little like Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride at Disneyland. There seems to be a lack of direction and a feeling of grasping at straws.

Instead of studying what was right about Main Street and why it thrived for so long, there seems a rush to spend federal money to makes changes that may look good on paper and dazzle a few – temporarily – but in the long run is not the solution needed to create a lively and varied downtown.

I support many downtown merchants and spend money, willingly, at businesses ranging from Lotions n’ Potions, to Things are Cooking, Gibsons, CVS and The Barley House among others.

I also listen to the fears expressed by other business owners, afraid to speak out for public consumption for fear of being perceived as not supportive of downtown, but feel the planned changes and the problems the construction may bring will be their death knell.  They point to the difficulty that one of the city’s best restaurants, Hermanos, had in staying open during the construction on the Capitol Commons Garage and building.

In a society that is often short on patience and expects instantaneous gratification, simply seeing a potential inconvenience in finding parking near to a destination, will send someone elsewhere.

I’ve written about the dozens of people who have told me how much they despise the kiosk method of parking or the necessity of parking in a garage and walking several blocks. Finding a street that is being dug up will only send them scurrying to the nearest strip mall to find their goods.

On numerous occasions I have chimed in with my own opinion as to what should be considered as a possible way of bringing needed vitality to our downtown community. Among my suggestions has been changing Concord’s status as the ONLY state capital in the U.S. that does not have lighted holiday displays.

Last year I even went before a group of mostly disinterested merchants to not only make that suggestion but to offer more than 100 hours of my time in putting together a fundraising event that would raise every penny needed for said lights, so that the burden of lighting our downtown did not fall upon the merchants as an additional burden.

Despite providing pricing on said lights and a plan to pay for it, I have never heard a word back from anyone.

What has been lacking for many years in downtown Concord is variety and choices. Pure and simple – we need more stores that offer products we want and need on an ongoing basis. People go to Gibson's and other businesses that satisfy their needs and if there were 15 or 20 additional stores – not just cafes and restaurants but stores – there would be a reason to spend time and money on Main Street.

Reconfiguring streets, adding fountains, moving clocks – its cosmetic and does not address the underlying issues as to why our Main Street is not filled with the bustle of crowds as in days not that long ago.

Until we solve those very real problems the creation of a gleaming new thoroughfare has little or no value except the spending of Federal dollars and the inconveniencing of a lot of good merchants who struggle daily.  The end result will be as hollow as a Main Street setting on a movie lot - all façade with nothing behind it.