What's the star attraction in your town? What's the place where the widest range of residents, from kids to seniors, visit and spend their time? Where do people go to hear interesting speakers and discuss new ideas? And, by the way, where can they go to take home a book, CD, or DVD at virtually no cost?
In more and more places, the answer I'm hearing is the one you've probably guessed by now: the library. As part of my research for an article I'm preparing for the Summer issue of the Planning Commissioners Journal, I stopped by Hudson, Ohio, at the end of the first leg of my Circle The USA trip to learn about their new library.
I met with Community Development Director Mark Richardson, a North Dakota transplant, and Margie Smith, Assistant Director of the Hudson Library & Historical Society. And, yes, the star attraction in Hudson, Ohio, is its library.
Hudson is a small Ohio city (population 22,439), midway between Cleveland and Akron. It has elements of both a suburb and a small town. One key part of Hudson is its historic Main Street business district. More on that in a minute, as it's related to the library.
But first take a look at the library itself. It's a stately brick building, with functional but very attractively designed interior spaces. The heart of the library is its rotunda (see photo below), showing that the design of libraries today -- even in smaller cities -- can match that of the classic Carnegie library buildings of a century ago.
As I've been learning, however, new libraries tend to need considerably more space than their earlier counterparts. That's the case in Hudson, where the new library building (at 50,000 square feet) is much bigger than the old building (at 17,000 square feet).
At first blush this seems counter-intuitive. Why in today's internet and digital age would libraries need to be larger? More importantly, why do they seem in even greater demand? What I've been finding so far (see also my report from Putney, Vermont) is that in today's digital age there's even more demand for public libraries. The role of the library has also been evolving, taking on a broader range of community-related functions.
What's draws people to the Hudson library? I asked Smith. "It's become the cultural, entertainment, and social hub of Hudson," she replied. "The library programs a lot of readings, there are musical performances every week, and we also have meeting rooms."
Add in over 50 public computer terminals, access to state and local databases, and a collection of more than 7,000 DVDs. Plus a coffee shop to hang out in, and an outdoor patio. You can even borrow laptops from the library, and use them anywhere in the building or on the patio.
The library also benefits from the fact that it's home to the Hudson Historical Society, which has its own space on the second floor, and to the Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurship Research.
While the library has a large children's reading room, Smith told me that perhaps the smartest move the library made was to also include a separate room for teens. The Hudson library doesn't close till 9 pm, Monday through Thursday, and is open a total of 69 hours each week.
The library is funded primarily through a property tax levy (raising $1.4 million), with just over $1 million more from the State of Ohio (income tax revenues). The library also makes extensive use of volunteers, including "techwizards" who help out in the computer center.
The residents of Hudson have decided that the library is a key service they want for their community. The numbers attest to this, as there are more than 23,000 registered library users, who checked out 736,000 items last year. The library counted more than 700,000 visits, an average of well over 2,000 every day it was open.
For planners, however, I want to touch on what may be the most interesting aspect of the Hudson library: its location. It is part of an expansion of Hudson's Main Street district.
Indeed, you could say it is the star attraction. As Community Development Director Mark Richardson told me, "you can't just rely on retail in downtown expansion, you need an activity center like a library." (apologies for the quality of the video clip I shot, as you can tell I'm not a skilled cinematographer! but it's still worth a look)
The Main Street extension (called First & Main) consists of a mix of retail, office, and housing. The City has architectural design standards for the area. As Richardson explained, "the idea was for it to be a natural extension, not a replication, of Main Street." The streets are laid out in a grid, connecting with the old village.
While there's a modest parking garage, there's also surface parking. As Richardson noted, "there's an expectation here for that being available."
You'll note that the housing in Main Street extension (top right) parallels the look of houses in Hudson's old village (lower right). Richardson also foresees a future phase of the project including substantially more housing, as "there's strong interest from empty-nesters."
Hudson is ready to grow. But the library will remain at its heart.
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update July 17, 2009:
The article on libraries that I mentioned at the start of this post that I was working on is now available, "Libraries at the Heart of Our Communities."
"It took some convincing," says Jim Brozena, but the Corps of Engineers agreed to punch two large "portals" through the massive flood control levee that separates downtown Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania from the Susquehanna River. With that agreement, Luzerne County and the City of Wilkes-Barre have moved towards once again integrating the riverfront with downtown.
[see photo below of one of the portals; the flood door can be seen on the right side of the photo; a pedestrian bridge passes above the portal, part of the mile long walkway]
I said "once again," because before massive flooding in the 1930s and '40s, a delightful, well-used riverfront park graced the one side of downtown, with stately buildings lining the south side of River Street for about a mile (buildings still standing) between the towering County Courthouse and Kings College on the northeast and the Wilkes University campus on the southwest. Then a huge flood control was erected. As Brozena put it, "we had cut ourselves off from the river that gave birth to the city."
Postcard image of what the river front park looked like circa 1910.
Jim Brozena for many years served as the County engineer. But in his capacity working for the Luzerne County Flood Control Authority, he was uniquely situated to take the lead in a remarkable project, called River Common, that has the potential to provide a huge boost to the economy -- and psyche -- of this economically battered city of some 41,000. Larry Newman of the Greater Wilkes-Barre Chamber of Business & Industry told me that without Brozena's passion and creativity, Riverfront Common would never have happened.
Brozena took me for a tour of the project site, and we walked from end to end, dodging downpours on an overcast April morning. But let him tell you part of the story in the following two short video clips:
The $22 million downtown segment of the flood control project (a piece of a much longer flood control effort) is being financed in equal shares by the federal, state, and local government.
Some of the key components include an amphitheater with seating for 700 (and standing room for many more); boat launch facilities on the opposite side of the river (also part of the project); and new gardens to front the Courthouse.
But most of all, it will be a place for Wilkes-Barre residents and visitors to stroll, sit on the grassy slopes, or enjoy the various events and concerts that will be scheduled for the riverfront.
Also in the works is the narrowing of the four-lane wide River Street, down to two lanes. This is intended to reinforce the pedestrian-oriented nature of the riverfront area. Other parallel streets downtown can easily absorb the traffic shifted from River Street. In fact, as Newman noted, it should help downtown merchants to have more traffic moving through downtown instead of along the river.
Both Brozena and Newman are convinced that the River Common project is critical to Wilkes-Barre's future -- and given the array of local support they've garnered for the project, many others share that view.
River Common is expected to generate a substantial amount of spin-off activity downtown. The large vacant former Sterling Hotel building along River Street (at the main gateway into downtown after crossing the river; you can see it on the left) will likely come back to life, while a new museum is planned for the smaller building next to it.
The Chamber also owns the huge, vacant Irem Temple (see photo and rendering), one of the city's architectural gems. The eastern portal was placed to align with this building, so that when this landmark building is redeveloped it will have direct access to the riverfront.
Wilkes-Barre's two downtown colleges -- Wilkes University and Kings College -- have been actively involved in the project plans. In fact, the materials used in the project have been designed to blend in with the campuses color palette.
Newman is also excited by the fact that before long there will be a 13 mile long, 8 foot wide trail along the top of the levee, starting in downtown Wilkes-Barre and connecting to neighboring towns.
The River Common opens this June. Wish I could be there. Best of luck Wilkes-Barre!
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update posted June 24, 2009:
River Common park opened to the public on June 19th. See the report in the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader newspaper, At new park, many children soak up the fun (June 20).
What, you've never heard of "Steamtown"? As you can see from the photo, it's not about steam coming up out of the ground; it's about steam bellowing from locomotive engines.
Steamtown is a National Park site located in downtown Scranton, Pennsylvania. In part, it was the "gift" of powerful Congressman Joe McDade to his district back in 1986, despite vociferous criticism within the "railroading community," which for many years had been advocating a national park devoted to railroading, but not in Scranton. [photo shows McDade at podium; this was the first Park Service newsletter for Steamtown, from April 1987]
I should know, because I was part of the National Park Service team that worked on the initial development plan for Steamtown in 1986 and 1987. At the time, Steamtown represented a diverse (and some would say disheveled and poorly maintained) collection of railroad equipment that had been salvaged by the City of Scranton from a non-profit that had operated Steamtown in Bellows Falls, Vermont.
The site of the park was to be on the downtown rail yard, formerly owned by Delaware, Lackawanna & Western. It was far from the grandest in the country. The rail yard's original roundhouse, where engines were stored and turned, appear in a famous 1855 painting, The Lackawanna Valley, by American artist George Inness (see a portion of that painting below).
It would be the key feature of the park. Yet only a remnant of the original was still in existence when our Park Service team arrived in Scranton to begin preliminary planning studies.
Moreover, we soon learned that the rail yard was about to be sliced up, with about a third of it being promised for a new downtown shopping mall. [photo above shows part of rear of the Mall "taken" from the Steamtown site; the Mall still poses a problem, as it is a long "barrier" between the rail yard and the rest of downtown]
Any guesses how Scranton got the federal funds needed to build the mall? Think politics, again.
So it was with that luggage that Steamtown became a unit of the National Park System. But I can tell you from my own experience, that the Park Service has some very talented people, and with the initial infusion of some $60 million Steamtown was up and rolling. Take a look at a portion of the rebuilt roundhouse below (and for steam purists, yes Steamtown does own & operate one diesel).
I visited Steamtown on Friday (April 3) to see how it was faring, and what sort of difference it was making to Scranton. I had hoped to get some hard numbers, in terms of where visitors to Steamtown were coming from, how long they were staying in the Scranton area, and how much they were spending. Unfortunately, Park Service Superintendent "Kip" Hagen (interestingly enough, a native of Scranton) didn't have that information. Park Service regulations, he noted, bar collecting this kind of personal visitor information.
Earlier in the day, Austin Burke, President of the Greater Scranton Chamber of Commerce, had told me that up until 2000 the Chamber had prepared reports for the Park Service on Steamtown visitor trends and expenditures. Burke pulled out a copy of the last report and handed it to me. In the year 2000, Steamtown had 160,421 visitors, 61,120 of whom stayed overnight in the area. Total visitor expenditures came to $8.3 million dollars, or about $52 per capita.
Burke also expressed frustration with the lack of commercial opportunities provided by Steamtown. For example, a local bank can't sponsor an excursion train (note: one of the features of Steamtown is that the Park Service runs 34 "main line" excursion trips beyond Scranton, and many daily train trips within the vicinity of the Park). Again, as Park Superintendent Hagen told me, his hands are tied as federal regulations prohibit this. View a short video clip I took of one of the Steamtown trains heading through Scranton.
But let's put aside economics and consider other impacts Steamtown has had on the community. Superintendent Hagen and Chief of Interpretation Mark Brennan described a hugely successful volunteer program, drawing on Scranton residents, as well as some from further afield. Many are rail fans. But as Brennan noted, "they learn to separate the rail fan world from the real world of railroading" that Steamtown's operations involve.
Some aim for that ultimate goal: becoming a Steamtown engineer. This past year, Brennan told me, there are 70 volunteers in "rail operations" and 16 in "visitor services." Volunteers range in age from 16 to 85, and include teachers, carpenters, two priests, an oncologist, salesmen, and some folks who work within the railroad industry (including an Amtrak engineer).
It's a tough process to secure work as a rail operations volunteer at Steamtown. Training must comply with Federal Railway Administration rules, and includes 40 hours of classroom training and considerably more in the field. Volunteers are closely supervised, and it can take five or more years to get from "trainman" (the initial volunteer assignment) to engineer. Yet most volunteers stick with it. In 2006 Superintendent Hagen received special recognition from Take Pride in America for the Steamtown volunteers program.
Why is there such keen interest and commitment among volunteers? Brennan told me it almost always amounts to a love for steam -- for the power, the intensity, the sounds, of steam-powered railroading. [see the following two short video clips; in the first one I get "steamed" while taking the video]
One other example of using volunteers: under the supervision of a National Park Service historian, over the past two years some 60 Scranton area high schoolers have been helping Steamtown, while earning community service credits.
They've done this by entering personnel records and business documents from the old Delaware, Lackawanna & Western Railroad (DL&W) into the Park's database. In the process, Brennan told me, "many have become fascinated by what they've found out about their own community." It's not just idle work. The aim is to have a database where visitors to Steamtown can look up relatives or other people they know who might once have worked for the DL&W.
Steamtown is far from your usual Park Service operation. It's surely the only National Park with a staff of six professional mechanics needed to maintain railroad engines, coaches, and assorted other equipment. In addition to running a small rail operation, there's an excellent museum and exhibits on the site.
Given tight federal budgets, Steamtown has had to operate quite frugally after its initial cash infusion in the late 1980s when the park started up (and it wasn't cheap to reconstruct the roundhouse, the central element of Steamtown). But, as Hagen pointed out, the volunteers provide a critical "free" resource. He's calculated that volunteers last year put in some 15,000 hours of work. This is the equivalent to about 9 full-time employees -- which adds up to a substantial monetary value.
But it's all attributable to a love for steam.
