Manoian hits Main Street, running

Laconia Main Street introduced its new executive director, Alan Manoian, at an open house held yesterday evening at the organization's office on Canal Street.

A native of Lowell, Massachusetts, Manoian served as downtown director in his hometown before taking a similar position in Nashua in the early 1990s. He told the guests that he was "very excited about being in Laconia," which as a New England mill town "is a lot like home to me. A resilient city. A genuine city. I hope to be able to measure up."

Manoian has the soul of a city boy, or as he put it "I'm a new urbanist, a 'smart growth' planner." He is among the founders of the Congress for New Urbanists, a group committed to restoring, enriching and enlivening downtown America.

"He's an urbanist through and through," said David Stamps, president of Laconia Main Street. Stamps added that in looking for apartment in Laconia, Manoian's overriding criterion was that it be within walking distance of his office. "He wants to experience his own work," Stamps said, "like a chef tasting his own soup."

Calling on author Jack Kerouac, perhaps Lowell's strongest voice, Manoian read a passage from "Maggie Cassidy," written in 1959, recalling a time when downtown streets swarmed with people, rubbing shoulders, meeting face-to-face as they went about their business. "Jack got it," he exclaimed. "The key to all this is that downtown must be a place where people want to walk and linger."

Manoian has spent much of his time at the Gale Memorial Library getting acquainted with the city and its history. Asked when the tradition of sled races began, Stamps was stumped, but Manoian quickly snapped "1928."

"We expect great things from him," Stamps said of Manoian, "but this community has to give him great things back."