Things change; time to look at repurposing our Belknap Mill

To The Daily Sun,

As the executive and program director at the Belknap Mill during the mid-1980s, I would like to offer a perspective from my own experiences some 30 years ago. I was fortunate to be there when the mill was the acknowledged center of culture in the Lakes Region.

We had an active Board of Trustees who put their actions in front of their words. People like John O'Shea, Peter Karagianis, Warren Huse, Ann Stamps, Frank DeNormandy, Ed Chertok, David Lynch, Bob and Jean Graves, Mac Harrington and so many others. From the furnace to fundraising, they were involved with all aspects of the mill. It will be a long time before I'll forget Mac arriving at the mill before the sun peered over the hills to wake up the building and make certain that all was ready for another full day of activity.

We had at least three tenants, including United Way, Belknap County Cooperative Extension, and Lakes Region Family Services, each offering a rainbow of unique events that attracted countless visitors through the doors. We were able to connect with the Morin family and then hosted a family reunion that filled the third floor with hugs, memories, and laughter. We sponsored children's programs and actively collaborated with schools and artists around the Lakes Region that brought in troops of toddlers to teens for events such as puppet shows, mask-making workshops, regional school art exhibits and concerts, and residencies with artists from other cultures. Thanks to regional artists, historians, and collectors we hosted exhibits and displays that included an impressive array of beer cans, 19th century Christmas cards, and turning the lobby into an antique pharmacy and soda fountain.

Yet, as lively and exciting as those days were, I fully realize that times have changed.

What's changed?

1. The Belknap Mill is no longer the sole small venue for intimate arts events and exhibits for local artists. To name just a few, we now have Pitman's Freight Room, the Beane Conference Center, the Busiel Mill and other private galleries, the beautiful new Laconia and Gilford libraries, and a number of bustling new outlets for live theater.

2. Laws have changed so that nursery schools can no longer pile children in the backs of station wagons for field trips.

3. School budgets have been slashed and regulations tightened so that schools find it challenging to collaborate in a similar manner outside their systems.

4. And because of extended pressures and expectations on families today, the pool of available volunteers is now smaller.

5. Do take a look at the number of new non-profit organizations, such as the completely impressive Multicultural Market Day celebrations, that are all now gathering at the same revenue streams for sustenance.

6. Certainly we must also acknowledge the impact of the many more entertainment options now available to us right in our own living rooms.

So, we should ask ourselves a very key question. What remains that only the Belknap Mill can offer? My thoughts? This building is a treasure that is an attractive and exquisitely unique addition to the landscape of downtown Laconia. This building is a treasure that teaches and reminds all of us of our own origins and history.

I would urge us to think creatively, and without casting unnecessary blame on others, just how this facility can be repurposed while remaining a central icon for the Lakes Region. For all the reasons we've cited The Belknap Mill can probably never operate as it once did, either as a productive textile mill or as the hub for all the arts in the Lakes Region. Yet in no way because of our own panic and shortsighted vision and thinking should we turn our backs on what could be a new life for this building.

Judy Buswell

Belknap Mill Executive and Program Director - 1984-88

Laconia