By CHRIS HARRIS CJ Staff Writer
Commonwealth Journal
September 14, 2007 08:24 am
—
The Pink Bee is gone. Well, gone from downtown anyway.
I noticed this a couple of evenings ago on a stroll. The once keenly-decorated storefront windows are barren, with only a sign saying the store is moving to a new location off U.S. 27 left behind the glass.
This made me quite sad.
It’s not like I was a frequent customer of the Pink Bee or anything (men don’t typically shop at businesses with the word “pink” in the title, after all), but it was nice having it there. South Maple Street had been really the only example of what a downtown area is supposed to be like — a couple of eateries, an art gallery, a nice little boutique store — but as anyone who’s been reading the Commonwealth Journal over the last year or so well knows, that little strip of commercial property is going to be uprooted for a new judicial center.
And the powers that be, intent on slapping their $22 million legal Taj Mahal right smack in the middle of downtown Somerset, have made sure they’ll get their space. It’s a foregone conclusion — the Judicial Development Board has already said that negotiations on any required property will cease Sept. 19 and they’ll start looking at other options instead— such as condemnation. Imminent domain has never seemed to me like something befitting a free country, but I suppose with big government, we’re really not all that free anyway.
I’ve followed this little saga closely. I talked to home and business owners in the Vortex Corner area when they were concerned the Judicial Board would take their property, and recorded their heartfelt pleas. In that case, the board made the right decision and moved on. And when it looked like they might try to put this sucker right on North Main Street, I wrote a column imploring them to look elsewhere. Again, the board did the right thing and gave up the idea.
Even though I was asked by certain individuals to write more on the subject, I decided not to so as not to continue beating a dead horse, but then I met Brandi Tanner, owner of Brandywine Studios, the chic downtown art gallery which would be affected by the board’s so-called “Market Street Plan.” She was ticked off, to say the least. I didn’t blame her. This location for the judicial center would take away the investment she had just made in a home for her business. She talked about how as an artist, it didn’t necessarily make sense to move to a small rural community, but this was her home as a youth, and she loved the community and wanted to give something back. And then she was told they were taking her space for a glorified courthouse and there was nothing she could do about it.
“It blows my mind,” said Tanner. “It’s so hard for me to wrap my mind around someone coming to an area and saying ‘It’s really nice that you tried to do this, and I kind of appreciate what you were trying to do for the downtown area, but no thanks, because I need the space. ... You're just going to have to find your way out of this big hole I’m providing for you because I'm not going to provide you with any assistance or moving expenses.’”
Her story was compelling. Her words were pointed and on target. It was going to make a great opinion piece, I thought.
And I never got around to writing the darn thing.
For a variety of reasons, I never got the chance to actually put words to paper, fingers to keyboard on the subject. And now it has snuck up on me, and the Pink Bee has moved. And I don’t know if my words would have done any good on the first place, but now it appears it is too late in any case.
I regret this almost as much as I regret what is happening to downtown Somerset — my home.
Communities across the state Somerset’s size or smaller are working on growing their downtown areas and using small businesses to create a renaissance. Downtown Somerset used to be bustling — many of you may remember Tibbals Pharmacy, the Kentucky Theater or the Fair Store, for instance — but Somerset is one of the few towns that hasn’t made a real attempt to hang on to that sort of thing, allowing virtually all commercial interests to escape to the highway. The little string of businesses along South Maple was at least an attempt to recreate that atmosphere.
Take a look around. Somewhere like Danville is a perfect of example of a small town, about Somerset’s size, that is still viable. Bardstown, Mt. Sterling and Harrodsburg also come to mind. Somerset would do well to keep up.
It was a bit surprising to see the Downtown Development Corporation not fight harder to keep the judicial center from engulfing a wide portion of what still remains of downtown, when plenty of property exists not far away that is open and more than suitable for such a structure. Admittedly, the judicial board actively preferred to be downtown, but what they want should be irrelevant when matched against the needs of local small business owners. In America, the private sector is supposed to trump government excess, and the small should be protected from the powerful. But that isn’t how it’s worked out here.
At least the Downtown Development Foundation offered incentives to stay downtown, but if I was a small business owner, I’d say “Why bother?” The damage is done — why didn’t those charged with keeping downtown a viable home for businesses raise more of a fuss about this? Did they feel they couldn’t topple the legal giant either?
It’s not like other places weren’t available. Land and property were offered, not far from the core of downtown. It’s not like our legal eagles would have to fly too far to get there. But it appears as if those making the decisions — not all of whom are even from our community — were dead-set on having it within sprinting distance of the current courthouse. I’m sure they have their reasons, but I don’t think they hold up very well against the consequences of those actions.
I have nothing against the facility, in and of itself. I’m sure the judicial center will be a great boon for those who use it — that is, judges and lawyers, and yes, even us media-types. But most people won’t get anything out of it. If you believe anyone who tells you the judicial center can help revitalize downtown commercially, I have some oceanfront property in McCreary County to sell you.
What’s more, Tanner informed me that at least at the time we spoke, they were looking to take down the building in which those stores are located — stretching along South Maple between East Mt. Vernon and Market Streets — not for the building itself, but for a courtyard-type area. That’s right. Green space. Located only a hop, skip and a jump away from the recently spruced-up Fountain Square.
“My hope is that somebody wakes up and goes ‘Oh, wait a minute, it's not really necessary to tear down our architectural history to put green space there’,” said Tanner, who knows the artistic quality of architecture when she sees it. “I think it’s just sheer insanity to tear down the building for that.”
Unfortunately, it looks like it’s too late to get that message across.
I hate to see people like Tanner hurt, individuals who have poured every personal resource they have into the dream of owning their own business only to have that dream interrupted by those with the power and influence in this community. But moreover, I just hate to see downtown — my downtown — become less about quaint little shops and more about government buildings. I don’t know about you, but this is not the look I would want for my hometown.
But I don’t get to make the decisions — Seeing the empty Pink Bee storefront reminded me of that.
Enjoy the judicial center, Somerset: It IS your downtown from now on.
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