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Health & Fitness

History Lessons

Of Cynics and Teenage Mourners

Of Cynics and Teenage Mourners


On the evening of September 14 I attended a meeting at the Windsor Locks Town Hall to discuss and then vote on a resolution to adopt a new blight ordinance. I supported the new ordinance because town officials believed it would provide them with the authority to attack the growing blight problem in our community.

Prior to the meeting I had done some shopping at Dexter Plaza and noticed the now familiar sight of tractor-trailer trucks ensconced in the parking lot. One truck was very familiar to me. I had seen it on many occasions parked next to Bickford Health Care Center. There was another large truck parked near it, its engine idling and emitting diesel fumes that could not have been healthy for the sick and elderly patients who resided nearby.

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Twenty years ago I don’t ever recall tractor-trailers using the Dexter Plaza parking lot as a rest stop. Dexter Plaza was a popular destination for local residents who regularly frequented its supermarket, drugstore, five-and-dime, laundromat, bank, Friendly’s restaurant and other businesses. Now there are only a handful of stores and take-out places, patronized primarily by people making a quick stop before continuing on their way to neighboring towns.

When did it all change?  In my opinion, the watershed event was the Connecticut Department of Transportation transformation of Main Street and other local roads into highways by widening the roadways and making other “improvements.” Safety enhancements and other measures to promote walkability were typically not part of these improvements. 

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Some may argue that blight has nothing to do with tractor-trailers in parking lots--or vandalism, crime, poor student performance, or a languishing business environment. But dilapidated and neglected residential and commercial buildings are not just an aesthetic and safety issue, they are a symbol of a town’s civic and economic decline.

There are many explanations for this downward spiral, including citizen apathy, absentee landlords, transient residents, and inaction on the part of public officials. But there is another cause, far more damaging than any of the others, the cynicism that infects some members of our community.

Some residents have suggested that townspeople should not be concerned about the fate of the old Montgomery factory, but should “Let it burn.” I don’t think these individuals have considered the consequences of their cynical stand. Perhaps they don’t realize that fires at abandoned buildings are often set by teenagers, the homeless and arsonists.

Setting a fire either by accident or intentionally can pose a serious danger not only for the person setting the fire, but also for those responders who are duty-bound to fight it. These cynics also don’t envision that a major blaze would cause toxic smoke to be released into the downtown area, affecting the large number of residents who live there.

And they do not foresee that a serious fire might leave the large 19th-century brick structure a huge heap of smoldering debris and the newer concrete building still standing, but badly damaged and requiring demolition. It is unlikely that the current owners would pay the hefty costs of demolition and cleaning up and securing the site, perhaps as much as $200,000. That financial burden would once again be borne by Windsor Locks taxpayers.

I was always anxious when the teenage friends of Henry Dang would keep vigil on the sidewalk at the intersection of Spring and West Streets where he was killed. The kids were careful, I know, but I was always concerned that some driver who drank too much or was on drugs or on a cell phone would lose control of his vehicle, leave the roadway and plow into them on the sidewalk.

But I also greatly admire this group of teenage mourners. They were not just writing letters to the newspaper, or going to meetings, or posting on blogs. They acted. They were there. Their action was the opposite of cynicism.

Their physical presence was not only a testimonial to friendship, it was also a hopeful statement about their commitment to justice. They were reminding grown-ups that they would not be put off by platitudes, dissembling, evasions, inaction, or silence.  

 

(Note: I am sorry that the final installment in the series on the creation of Bradley Field has been delayed. It will be posted in the near future.) 

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