Opinion

L&T Publisher Earl Watt

Before I eclipsed the 50-year-old mark, I was one of the younger people in the room where discussions about Liberal’s future were taking place. I started working at the newspaper when I was 19, and that exposed me to a lot of the ideas that were being kicked around.

Several came true, like the restoration of the Rock Island Depot. Before that, I grew up watching Liberal become the home of Dorothy, the establishment of the Mid-America Air Museum, the construction of a fountain in Downtown Liberal, the construction of an overpass, the construction of the Seward County Activity Center and other community enhancements.

I have gotten older, but my desire to see Liberal continue to improve is just as strong now as it was 30 years ago.

I was honored to serve on the Citizens for Responsible Growth Committee that advocated for the five new schools we built almost 10 years ago, and I have been an advocate for the 1-cent sales tax and a member of the Focus on the Future Committee for almost 20 years.

There are some projects that have excited me more than others over the years, and some never came to fruition.

But few will have the impact that the current proposal of changing Downtown Liberal into a  pedestrian district, and it is the most exciting thing we can do without breaking the bank.

I am a big fan of Massachusetts Street in Lawrence, and while Liberal does not have the same population, we are also not talking about the number of blocks like Mass. Street.

Converting Downtown Liberal is basically changing three blocks, but those three blocks will become an even stronger heart to the community than it already is.

The newest businesses that have come to Downtown Liberal require parking, from eateries to night clubs. And creating a new vibe downtown will require the current four-lane race track to be converted to two lanes for three blocks while adding angle parking.

The recent comprehensive plan for the City of Liberal includes this as part of the improvements. While the conceptual drawings are just that — conceptual — they provide a look at what we can do to create this new district.

Not only did the year-long effort to plan for our future meet with focus groups and a steering committee, but it also conducted surveys and received public feedback.

One question asked, “Where should Liberal focus on new growth?”

The overwhelming response was Downtown.

Another question asked, “Where should Liberal focus on the revitalization of already built areas?”

Again, the top response by a long shot was Downtown, five times higher than Southgate Mall which was second.

The public wants to see Downtown Liberal revitalized and expanded, and both are already taking place with private investments made during the past few years.

But that could kick into overdrive if the street modifications are made.

The hardest concept to sell is a vision of something that doesn’t exist.

But Liberal has a history of people who changed our entire trajectory by sharing their vision.

Let’s start in the 1940s when the Chamber of Commerce approached the U.S. Army and convinced them to build an air training facility here. That success changed Liberal by doubling the population from 4,000 to 8,000 and led to additional housing.

A group started a summertime baseball program 75 years ago, and we still enjoy watching the five-time national champion Liberal Bee Jays.

The Jaycees convinced Olney, England to let us join them in a friendly competition of women running down the streets on Shrove Tuesday, and Pancake Day was born.

Max Zimmerman took a business trip in the 1980s and was asked where he was from. When he told them Kansas, the typical, “How’s Dorothy?” was the response. Zimmerman realized that Dorothy didn’t have a home in Kansas, and so he set out to give her one here in Liberal.

We have a history of dreamers, and more importantly, doers.

Zimmerman had a way of painting a picture and spreading the excitement. That same ability and tenacity led to the restoration of the Rock Island Depot and Grier House which were about to be demolished by the railroad.

It’s time to look at our entire downtown district not as it is but what it will become when we see the possibilities of what angled parking and calm traffic can do.

And this isn’t a “build it and they will come” concept. It has been proven to work in other locations. Adding parking spaces brings additional revenue to a downtown district.

That is clearly a benefit of angle parking. But perhaps equally important is what is called the calming of traffic. Let’s face it, Downtown Liberal is not for the faint of heart when it comes to walking with four lanes of traffic a few inches away hell bent on not being in Downtown Liberal. Until the traffic is calmed for that two-and-a-half blocks, and on-street parking expanded, there is no way the district can experience its full potential, not just for the business owners and operators but for the community. We are missing out on an asset we already have when we allowed traffic to become more important than the property that was along the street far before the traffic ever came.

In essence, the calm roadway that delivered customers downtown for decades and provided a destination for almost every major community event was stripped away when Kansas Avenue became Highway 83.

But it has been 30 years since Highway 83 was moved to open space east of Liberal. It is high time to use the past as a template for the future of Downtown Liberal. Today’s residents have made their voices heard through survey’s, studies and now the concept is included in the Comprehensive Plan known as “Launch Liberal 20235.”

And the Downtown remodel would be the perfect launch of the plan.

What better way to show how committed we are to the future than by redesigning downtown to be the centerpiece we all know it can be?

Don’t see the traffic. See the people enjoying Kansas Avenue. Hear the music drifting down the street. You know you want to go. The time is now.