Opinion

Hits and misses of 2008


Published: January 7, 2009

The year 2008 proved to be another active year for Andover. While the recession dominated much of the news, major construction started on Main Street and at Phillips Academy's public Addison Gallery of American Art. A Korean War veterans memorial was unveiled, police with dogs executed a surprise drug search at Andover High, and a family of polar bears arrived in the downtown.

Here's a look at some of the hits and misses in Andover news during 2008:

Hit: Engineering lessons for all

Wood Hill Middle School became the last of the town's three middle schools to create an engineering lab through the work of parents and a grant writer, joining West Middle, which began offering engineering for students for the 2006-07 school year and Doherty Middle, which did so last school year. Andover middle-schoolers take engineering in addition to regular science classes. They learn skills tested on the eighth-grade MCAS test and needed by Americans in the global economy.

Creating middle school engineering labs is the type of one-time or occasional capital item that parent organizations and grant writers should pursue. It quickly benefits all students in a school and across the district, unlike some flashy pilot projects that benefit only a few, would add significantly to the operating budget to continue, or could not reasonably be offered to all because of their expense.

Miss: Town fee for community event

A big miss this year went to town government for insisting on charging the Andover Business Center Association about $1,000 to rent Old Town Hall for the annual Breakfast with Santa that is part of the Holiday Happenings event. Instead, the event was moved to the Free Christian Church, which offered its space for free.

Businesses paid for the horse-drawn hayrides, tree lighting and other events that made the Holiday Happenings event a community draw. There are few events that close Main Street in the downtown for special community events. The town and its leaders should have done its part in a timely manner to help this event that is open to all interested.

You can bet you will begin seeing the closing of some stores in the downtown starting this month. Breakfast with Santa wouldn't have saved those, but it would have helped a struggling downtown business community.

Mixed bag: Polar bear migration

One of the early surprises of 2008 was the news that the Memorial Hall Library trustees would install a life-sized granite statue of a polar bear and its cubs. It was paid for entirely through money provided by the Library Board of Trustees, not with taxpayer's money.

Still, initial reaction was mixed. With the poor economy starting to dig in, some residents wondered if there wasn't a better way for the trustees to improve the library. On top of that, selectmen approved the library's statue with minimal discussion, after a far more rigorous vetting of the size, location and look of a donated memorial dedicated to Andover people who died in the Korean War. One would think that polar bears looking to move into the center of town would have to jump through more hoops than veterans.

However, once the polar bear statue was approved, supporters were smart to have a name-the-bears contest. The statues have drawn attention to the library and its "green" initiatives and seem to be a hit with young children, as intended. Plus, let's face it, the bears are a lot more inviting than the modern art placed at the back entrance to the library.

Hit: Helping hand

A group of residents and others have been working since Aug. 20 to help 81-year-old fire victim Mary Manock back into her Elm Street home. Dumpsters full of her belongings have been hauled away from the condemned home and property by the group that has dubbed itself Mary's Angels.

The cleanup and repairs have not only given hope of moving back to her home to woman who has said she is a hoarder, but should result in improved living conditions for her and a safer and more attractive property near one of the "gateways" to Andover, Elm Street near Merrimack College and the town line with North Andover.

Mixed bag: Main Street construction

Nearly a decade since money was approved to better Main Street, it's been a positive to finally see workers building the redesign project meant to improve downtown traffic flow for vehicles and people. The appearance of new sidewalks and lampposts during the summer helped show progress was being made.

Of course, no one likes to live with construction, including Andover residents, who had trouble adjusting to a treeless Route 28. (New trees will be planted in 2009.) Unfortunately, the timing of this work couldn't have been much worse for downtown shops struggling to get by in a recession.

Here's hoping next year brings the on-time completion of a project that improves traffic flow and the look of the downtown and benefits all in the downtown community. If so, that finished project is sure to be one of the big hits of 2009.