Dear Editor:
I have received numerous phone calls from Marion residents about keeping and restoring the present Town House and not building a new one at the Council on Aging property, where heavy and fast-moving traffic on Route 6 causes dangerous distractions and creates major safety concerns for pedestrians, bike riders and drivers. Anyone who has ever attempted to enter the narrow COA driveway from Route 6 knows the unsettling feeling of sitting on that roadway and having motor vehicles whizzing by so fast, it makes your car shudder.
The present Town House location, long a symbol of local government, anchors Marion’s Town Center with distinctive architecture and possible historical significance; it serves as an attractive cultural icon symbolizing historic seafaring Marion.
Many callers talked of plans to freshen Taber Library’s exterior, and the well thought out plans for a refurbished Town House next door, as well as the placement of a bronze statue of Elizabeth Taber linking the two buildings, create a charming campus and civic space where people can pause, read and converse in a quiet pocket park setting away from deafening marauding truck and motorcycle traffic that frequent the proposed Route 6 site stealing one’s sense of peace and tranquility.
A lot can be said for relaxing in a civic space created between two historic buildings enshrined with majestic trees, glorious flowers, benches and stylish shrubs – an extension of the community – a stage for our public lives. The site already functions in a true civic role where celebrations are held, where social and economic exchanges take place, where friends run into each other, and where cultures mix.
Many believe the Town House and Taber Library are our collective “front porches” where we interact with each other and with our local government. When towns and neighborhoods have thriving civic spaces, residents have a strong sense of community and feel a strong connection to each other.
Sincerely,
Eileen J. Marum, Marion
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