The End of an Era

This week is the end of an era.  Beginning Monday afternoon, the Executive Inn demolition is literally in full swing.  It's sad and disheartening to see yet another of Evansville's icons go the way of so many others.  The L&N train depot, the Orr Building, and so many others are forever gone from the area landscape. 

The Executive Inn has been a part of our city for as long as I can remember.  Our 1st Anniversary was celebrated here with my Mom and Dad.  Mom drank too much pink champagne in honor of not being a grandmother yet. But she'd come around by the time we broke the good news to her a couple of years later. 

This building is just one of many that have fallen by the wayside here.  That's a sad fact.  Our leaders believe that in order to have progress you must part with the past.  This is so far from the truth. 

Working to join the past with the future is the only way to provide continuity for a community.  Evansville is so busy shedding it's past that we have nothing to anchor anyone here anymore.  No one sees any reason to build the town into something more than it is because they have no sense of roots here.

A small town sticks together because of common roots.  While Evansville is no longer a small town, we still need common roots to cling to.  Outgrowing a small town status does not mean we must take on the mantle of big city sterility.  There has to be a balance between the two. 

Progress is only made when we blend the past and present with the future.  Fortunately the Old Post Office, the Old Courthouse, and the Old Jail still remain standing.  There is a lot of history to be learned from in the courthouse.  It's a shame it isn't used for more public purposes.  Many towns host tours of their older buildings and tell the stories of their beginnings.  Evansville tears them down and just keeps going, never looking back. 

Hopefully with the changings coming in the Mayor's Office this fall, the way Evansville views it's past will also change.  If you can't tell where you've been, how could you possibly know if you are going forward in the right direction?   

Let's hope that today will be the last time we have to stand by and watch an Evansville icon fall.

The last days of the "Big E"......