Commercialization, Redevelopment of Island Causes Dismay
To the Editor:

As overnight visitors to the Island for several nights a couple times a year for more than 25 years, we have come to regard the Island as part of us. We have followed events with a subscription to the Town Crier for some two decades. And we have watched with dismay at the commercialization and redevelopment of the downtown area.

Now we read that a new hotel is planned to further "canyonize" Huron Street (euphemistically renamed Main Street), and add to a greater Disneyesque feeling. The McNally Cottage also may go the way of good things. This all will further erode the ambiance of the Island. And as noted in the article, there is now real danger of losing National Historic Landmark status.

Many indicators over the past couple of years have identified predictable trouble ahead. The water supply and waste treatment facility are obsolescent. The master plan reconstitution has been dormant for years. The ersatz marina was approved (don't look a gift horse in the mouth must have been the reason). Several new structures, supposedly in appropriate architectural style after review by a consultant, have overshadowed historic sites.

Steps should be taken immediately, regardless of whose toes may be stepped on politically, or who the developer might be, to stop the hemorrhaging. There is little time left. And the Town Crier articles further indicate that the Mayor and Council have taken emergency action to create a historic preservation commission, which was discussed more than a year ago. Now a feeling of panic is imparted by the report.

In the current political milieu, at many levels, in many areas of the country, "change" is the mantra being carried. Perhaps the Island residents should consider the need for change in priorities, directed by persons who are willing to say "enough!"
Richard A. Ott
Berkeley, Illinois