Don't rip up the tracks and make another huge mistake

To The Daily Sun,

In the mid to late 1960s, downtown Laconia was razed and rebuilt under the auspice of urban renewal. The grand idea was to take the main street, remove the dilapidated buildings and replace them with a walking mall with a modern flair.

The problems were myriad. The walking mall was a dismal failure with a small lane cut through for traffic not long after its inception. The historic buildings (formerly called dilapidated) were replaced with sleek but cheap construction which could not withstand the test of time. The quirky and ever-changing traffic patterns, dark dismal parking garage and the onslaught of the Walmartesque stores proved a death knell in the coffin of Laconia’s once-vibrant and beautiful downtown.

Yet now, we see a glimmer of hope. Small businesses are popping up and some are thriving. It’s taken 50 years.

The question becomes, Laconia, do you want to make a similar mistake again? You’re on the precipice of tearing up history in favor of a fad once again. Pulling up the railroad tracks for the WOW Trail is irreversible. Extend it alongside of the tracks or don’t. But, please, think long and hard about making another huge infrastructure mistake.

Hillary Seeger

Meredith