We Must Rethink Who We Are, And Who We Want To Be

What you are about to read may not sit right with some.  In fact, it will infuriate many.  Let me say first, I am sorry for the emotions it will cause, not for the act in provoking them.

It has to be done.

Here goes.

We are not a "tourist town".

There, I've said it.  We are a town that has a tourist venue within it, Old Sturbridge Village.  Little within the town is designed to attract, support, maintain, or designate the town, or part of it, as a tourist destination.  Yes, we have well designed, and well constructed trails, but no professionally designed brochures, or booklets with simple to read maps.  We have trail heads with limited parking, and some signage, "Trek Sturbridge".  I haven't seen any actual marketing of our outdoors beyond what is written in the local newspapers.

In the 1940's when the Wells family built Old Sturbridge Village there was hope that the public would like it, and come back again.  They did.  That business spawned the need for places that those visitors could stay, and small motels, and motor courts sprung up.  

Over the years, motels, and restaurants were opened primarily to capture the crowds coming to Sturbridge to visit OSV.  Our town was quaint, with its pretty common and the period homes and businesses surrounding it, and the Publick House began to do  better than it had been doing once the "Village" began drawing crowds.

When the Mass Turnpike came to town in the late 1950's, Sturbridge was awarded it's own exit.  This act alone allowed for folks to hop on the pike and drive to Sturbridge to see Old Sturbridge Village without the normal stop and go driving along the back roads, and Route 20.  Without Exit 9 Sturbridge would have remained the rural New England town it always had been, and OSV may not have done as well as it has. 

Back then it was get on the pike, and head to exit 9, and get off.  Very simple, and the pike drew thousands, and thousands.  People actually made a day of packing up the car and heading out to explore the Turnpike.  They'd have lunch at Howard Johnson's at one of the many rest areas, fill up their tanks, and maybe follow a sign to Old Sturbridge Village to see what it was all about.  The crowds came to Sturbridge not because Sturbridge had a lot to offer, it was because of Old Sturbridge Village, and we had an exit.

Ever since we have referred to ourselves as a tourist town, and in a very real way we are, but not in the way one would think a tourist town would be.  When I-84 came to town along the old bones of Route 15 from Connecticut it shuttled a new breed of traveler to town: the transient.  People with a destination either north, or south of Sturbridge, but since we were at the the junction of two interstates, the east-west I-90, the Pike, and the north-south I-84, we were a great place to rest, eat, and maybe explore the sights.  Old Sturbridge Village was on the list of things to see, and shopping was second on the list.  If the travelers still had a ways to go, then one of our many motels rooms were available.

For years, and years, this was life in Sturbridge.  Stores opened, and thrived, or closed. Restaurants, opened and closed.  The successful deverloped a local, and long distance following, and became a destination themselves much like OSV.

Old Sturbidge Village did have its ups and downs as well, but over the past several years has rethought itself, and has down amazingly well.  They rethought themselves, and that act has renewed The Village.   It is way overdue for Sturbridge to rethink itself, or if they are in the midst of a ponder, then speed it up a bit and start to show results.

I've been to tourist towns, and so have you.  Newburyport, Hyannis, Ogunquit, Stockbridge, North Conway, Lenox and Mystic to name a few, and we cannot compare to any of them.  They all capitalize on their history, or a venue, within their town that attracts people.  That venue may be skiing, shopping, the ocean, fine restaurants, or entertainment.  Those towns adapted their existing infrastructure to serve tourism, build anew, and have maintained it all to insure the tourists don't go away.  Nothing will cause a tourist to rethink a future visit if the town starts to let itself go, or not address a tourists needs.  

Accommodating the tourist goes beyond offering a clean bed at the end of the day.

First thing we as a town need to do is to look around us and ask what infrastructure has been put in place, over the years,  to support a tourist population.

The largest convention center  in central, and western Massachusetts is here in Sturbridge at the Host Hotel.  Thousands come to the Host each year for any one of their many conventions, or shows.  Classic cars, antiques, political, fraternal, health and fitness events  attract thousands to these all weekend events.  I have watched those visitors playing Russian Roulette with the traffic on Route 20 as they try to cross the road in order to explore the rest of Main Street.  There are no cross walks, or pedestrian controlled traffic lights to be found within a short walk.  This simple omission speaks volumes about where our heads when it comes to accommodating our visitors.

There are no side walks along Route 20 from New Boston Road to the Host only a well worn dirt path.  A dirt path along a major route that has been used for generations of tourists, and residents, walking from the old motel on the corner of Route 20, and New Boston Road.  I wonder with the construction of the new Holiday Inn Express at that location will the state/town build a sidewalk.  It would have nice to include it in the plan offered to the town along with a traffic light.  Who knows, maybe the new owners have worked out something with the town, or maybe the town will refine the zoning in the area to force the necessary modern improvements.

The Welcome to Sturbridge sign, also at the same location, is in poor repair, and overgrown with trees.   Maybe it was maintained by the motel, maybe it's the towns, but it doesn't really matter, it is that old sign that visitors  see when they get off the highway at the gateway to our town.

Someone needs to take charge.

Sidewalks along Rout 20 are impassable to those with wide strollers or electric carts, wheelchairs, the number of crosswalks for a tourist town are few. 

These are a few of the things that prevent us from being a true tourist town, and I've mentioned them many times before.  There is so much room for improvement.

I could ramble on here for a dozen or so paragraphs, but it would do little to truly illustrate what is needed.  I've taken you on the is ride before.   The one way for you to understand is to visit a tourist town this fall, and look around you at how the host town accommodates its visitors.  Of course,  in most places the tourist season closed down on Labor Day weekend, but the signage, public bathrooms, crosswalks, traffic lights, sidewalks, and street lighting are still there.

Rethinking who we are, what we want to be, and how to get there is so needed.  Brick sidewalks are nice, and that simple, if not controversial act, inspired the recent landscape makeover at the Public House.  The entire area is beautiful.   Imagine if something just as simple was to happen along Route 20 in Fiskdale.  Who else would be inspired?

One simple act.  We need more of those.