Editorial: Everyone has role in making improvements

The Way Forward, Part Five

“The City Beautiful.” That’s how this newspaper and its editor referred to Clarendon in the earliest years of the 20th century. Kearney Street was lined with trees, the Courthouse could be seen for miles, and an impressive Methodist Church and new college buildings were making this town one of the most attractive on “The Denver Road,” as the BNSF railway was then known.

Compared to many West Texas communities, Clarendon is still “The City Beautiful,” but there is certainly room for improvement as we continue our series promoting growth and progress.

Taking stock for moment, Clarendon appears to be an oasis coming in from the west. Travelers end their journey across the flat, “Staked Plains” just before entering Donley County and soon find themselves enjoying the Rolling Plains and what (during years of normal precipitation) was historically called the “Green Belt” of the Texas Panhandle. Their first site entering the city is Clarendon College sitting on its hill, a modern day acropolis befitting the moniker of “The Athens of the Panhandle.”

That beautiful campus, also visible coming from the north, is perhaps one of this city’s most well-known features and is recognized by many people from downstate who travel US 287 on their way to vacations in the Rocky Mountains. How marvelous would it be if our entire city was as clean, well kept, and memorable as Clarendon College is.

This is not to say we’re a dirty or trashy town, but surely we can all agree that there are areas that could use some attention. As the old Head & Shoulders commercial said, “You never get a second chance to make a first impression.” We therefore need to make sure that the first impression any visitor has of Clarendon is good – no, make that great!

Much of this has to be done on an individual basis with each home owner, business owner, and vacant lot owner taking pride in their community and making sure what they have is clean and neat. Weed control and a good coat of paint go a long ways, but it’s important also to keep up with maintaining any structures. Preventive maintenance is much cheaper than major repairs or rehabilitation, and your neighbors will appreciate your efforts.

Too many times we have heard about folks who simply don’t keep up the exterior of their homes or businesses because they fear their tax appraisal will go up and it will cost them money. Is that just a terrible attitude or an excuse? Be an example to others and fix up your property, and everyone will benefit from a nicer community, including you.

City Hall has already taken steps to spruce up the town. The city code compliance officer and municipal judge are working with property owners to correct code violations and clean up properties. In the west part of the city, in a section originally called “Clarendon Heights,” an old homestead that was overgrown by trees and vegetation is now visible from the street for the first time in decades. Behind the scenes – literally – city workers have been cleaning and blading alleyways and doing other things to help improve our town. The Board of Aldermen and the city employees deserve our thanks for making these things happen.

Downtown, the most obvious improvement has been the work of the Clarendon Economic Development Corporation to rehabilitate the Mulkey Theatre, but that’s not the only thing the CEDC has been doing. Since 2008, it has invested nearly $17,000 into 13 storefronts up and down Kearney Street with façade grants ranging from less than $100 up to $2,000. Next month the CEDC Board will consider revising and possibly expanding the façade grant program to do even more improvements.

But there are also other things we can do to help us reclaim our title of “The City Beautiful.” Organized clean up days, such as those held by the Chamber of Commerce in the late 1980s and early 1990s, would be an easy start. The city could bolster such an effort by reinstituting the free dumping that it used to hold one week each fall and spring. Yes, it may cost the city a little bit of revenue, but a cleaner city would certainly be worth it.

We also need to think about targeted infrastructure improvements that would be specifically designed to be attractive to visitors as well as locals. A perfect example is the streets leading to and surrounding Broncho Stadium. Leaving US 287, you have to travel over one block of dirt on either Sims or Allen streets on your way to football games or to the gym, and then the paving on three sides of the stadium is deplorable.

Fortunately, last spring’s bond election approved replacing the paving in question. We just need to make sure that we don’t “poor boy” the paving by making the streets narrower than they currently are or by doing anything less than the best job possible.

The bond election did not, however, cover those single blocks of Sims and Allen that get people from the highway to the school; and looking around, we can all easily find other areas that desperately need improvement. Consider First Street from downtown to Lowe’s Family Center. There are places where the brick paving needs repair and two blocks of what used to be paving that frankly needs total replacement, and then there is dirt from Kearney going east by the recycling bins.

And then there is a need for sidewalks, improved pedestrian lighting, park improvements – such as a splash pad or a skate park or both, and more. Indeed, one has to wonder if Clarendon didn’t set its sights high enough last year with a $750,000 ten-year bond election. Perhaps we should have gone bigger.

Every little bit helps though, and we all have to do our part and resolve to get involved in 2013.