COLUMN: It’s important to remember, preserve the past
Good news is always welcome, especially in the midst of difficult times. It was particularly heartening recently to learn that the Macon-Bibb Commission had approved the plan to restore the Train Recreation Center on First Street and return it to good use. Built originally for the families working at Bibb Mills, the facility is one of the last reminders of what drove the local economy for a great many years. Do we want to lose these pieces of history? I hope not. Happily, it is at times like these that we gain perspective.
A good friend of mine frequently reminded me that there are things that are important and things that are urgent. The “urgent” things are those that deal with our daily necessities, like grabbing a bite of lunch or picking up a birthday card for a spouse. The ‘important” things have to do with our health, our loved ones, our duty to our fellows, our sense of history.
Sometimes they clash. Going through the drive-thru to get a quick bite may not contribute to our health. Dealing with potholes or burned-out streetlamps is urgent, but preserving the reminders of our past is important.
The Train Recreation Center reminds us that for many years cotton was not only the driving force in our local economy, but it also played a pivotal role in much of the less than admirable parts of Southern history. The Bibb Company, with the slogan “The First Name in Textiles” was once one of the largest enterprises in the South.
Most reminders of that era are gone now, but thanks to the measure passed in March, the refurbished building will become home to the University of Georgia’s Cooperative Extension Office. This is exciting news, not just because of its connection with Macon’s heritage, but it also reminds us of a previous use of the building. In the 1990s, the joyful cries of children rang through the rooms, thanks to an after-school program created by a Mercer professor (the late Tom Glennon) and staffed with AmeriCorps students. Thousands of Bibb students experienced the arts (including several of mine) in this place. Now, thanks to such things as 4H programs, the building will once again ring with children’s voices.
Sadly, we have often failed to value the past: Some will remember the proposal to demolish the Grand Opera House, or the plan to destroy the Douglass Theatre (the adjoining hotel was in fact demolished). Downtown on Maple Street are three dilapidated “shotgun” houses that which will soon slide into oblivion, taking with them their role as reminders of the Jim Crow era. An old steam locomotive still sits rusting under a tarp near Central City Park, a gut-wrenching sight and a finger in the eye to Macon’s rich railroad history.
We can be grateful to the Historic Macon Foundation for its annual compilation of the Fading Five, reminding us that we must be ever vigilant. Still, with the creation of the Ocmulgee Mounds National Historic Park, the recent restoration of the Capricorn Studios downtown and the planned move of the Cooperative Extension Office of the University of Georgia to the Train Recreation Center, there is much cause for joy.
When the pandemic comes to an end and travelers again venture out onto the highways, we can take heart, knowing that our leadership recalls the “remembering our past” portion of its vision statement. As Historic Macon reminds the rest of the nation, “Macon Is Preservation.” We’ve got a lot to preserve: We’re doing well, but the journey is one that never ends.