Posts by Stuart Arnett
In this new year, don’t underestimate the power of your community.
This week we take a look at 23 Amherst St., the former Rex Theatre, and more recently Club Liquid bar-pit. The City of Manchester – via the affiliated Manchester Development Corporation (MDC) – has issued a Request For Proposals (RFP) to buy-develop the site. The MDC did a good thing to acquire the property and offer it for redevelopment, or else it may have deteriorated indefinitely, as it is definitely a “challenging” property. Today I offer my 2 cents.
Three colleagues – and three of their “wins” – are the focus of this tribute. Each win was toward a better future for their community, and was realized working alongside many others. Sadly, each of these good people left us in the past year.
Revitalization begins with a ‘360 Opportunity Assessment’ of what the community needs and
First, no place – no matter how perfect the place is for that imagined community-theatre-kitchen-homeless-shelter-yoga studio – will it happen if the money and markets are not there, and if the surrounding neighbors are calling 1-800-Lawsuit.
My job in this space on Manchester Ink Link is to bring examples of now-better places, and in my humble opinion suggest why they healed. Your job – distinguished reader – is to bring to my attention places that need healing, and we’ll see if we can suggest realistic Band-Aids.