Sudden But Welcome Changes - Editorial
Each time we drive south down MacArthur Boulevard, more changes seem to be happening. Blink and you might miss them.
The blighted buildings that long stood next to the rotary have been demolished to make way for the new Cumberland Farms super complex, and there has been a rapid onset of preparatory measures taken in the past month to ready the historic information booth for its move to Shore Road. Being admirers of local history, we find the latter much more exciting.
The fate of that booth hung in the balance for months, and months continued to pass even after money for its preservation was allocated. Things seemed idle until a few weeks ago, when demolition of the derelict buildings began in mid-November. Those buildings fell quickly, and we were momentarily worried, but the booth fortunately seemed wholly untouched when all the dust settled.
Things unfolded swiftly from there. Within a few days, the booth’s front deck was detached and the rest of the structure was lifted up onto blocks. More preparatory work was done through the end of November, progressing at a pace that pleasantly surprised the few interested parties who seem to be taking notice. A defunct utility line has been disconnected, and the booth now sits on a trailer, just waiting to be whisked off to its new (and hopefully permanent) home at the VFW Post on Shore Road.
For over a year now we have reported on the booth and its journey, which has gone from a small grassroots movement brewed up by a few historically minded individuals to a real, actionable plan with funding, contractors and stakeholders and—at long last—a sense of urgency in regard to preservation. Though it was fast and somewhat all at once—enough to give anyone paying attention a sense of whiplash—we would much rather see things progress unexpectedly than grind to a halt.
The final holdup, we’ve been told, has to do with installation of the booth’s foundation at the new location. So we wait with bated breath as that final kink gets worked out, but, all in all, seeing so much movement recently with the booth is a very welcome thing.
We passed by the booth earlier this week, breathing a sigh of relief at the sight of it sitting tall on a trailer at the edge of MacArthur Boulevard, adorned with a banner and signs bearing the moving company’s name. It really is just a matter of time now, and all that’s left is to hitch up that trailer and hit the road.
But who knows, really? With the abruptness of the past few weeks’ progress, we would hardly be surprised if the trailer had been hitched up and moved by the time this paper lands at your front door Friday morning.