Traverse City Record-Eagle

Loraine Anderson

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April 5, 2010

Loraine Anderson: What do you value?

By LORAINE ANDERSON

Sense of place.

I've always liked that phrase and personally defined it as a crucial connection between individuals and their environment or communities. I never linked it to architecturally historic buildings and spaces.

That changed last month when restoration architect Eugene Hopkins gave his keynote talk at a Historical Society of Michigan conference in Dearborn.

"Place is where people want to be," he said. "Often our architecture is our community heritage."

He believes a strong sense of place builds community sustainability, which he defines as "meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs."

Hopkins' personal experience probably shaped his view. He grew up in Belding, a small city 25 miles northeast of Grand Rapids, that tore down many old buildings in its core downtown business blocks during the 1960s and 1970s as part of a federal urban renewal project. It replaced the old structures with a single-story enclosed mall that now can't compete with retail developments outside the business district.

"The city lost its sense of heart," Hopkins said. "It lost its sense of place. Its architecture and heritage are gone."

Belding now wants to revamp its downtown business district to make it more inviting and walkable. Hopkins even has been asked if he thought the old downtown could be rebuilt.

As Hopkins told this story, I thought of Traverse City's downtown and others throughout our region.

I remembered Mary Kay McDuffie's battle to save the Antrim County Courthouse in the mid-1970s. I recalled similar moves here to restore the Grand Traverse County Courthouse and City Opera House, to renovate the Hannah-Lay building and State Theatre, as well as efforts to clean up the bayfront, starting in 1930.

I thought of the beautiful district library built on Boardman Lake in the 1990s and the decision to turn the 1905 Carnegie Library into the Grand Traverse Heritage Center. The Grand Traverse Commons and redevelopment of old state hospital buildings and grounds came to mind, too.

We are, indeed, fortunate.

I wondered why and where this sense of place came from. Local vision, leadership, Rotary Charities? A deep-rooted love of this place and our environment that draws people? And where will it lead?

Hopkins says the key to building community sustainability and a strong sense of place is asking people what they value about the community where they live.

So I want to ask you that:

What do you value about the place where you live. And why?

Please take a minute to send me an e-mail or letter. I'll share what you say in a future column or columns. Include your name, your town's name and your phone number in case I want to call you.

I can be reached at landerson@record-eagle.com, or write me at the Traverse City Record-Eagle, 120 W. Front St., Traverse City, MI 49684.

Thanks.

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