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BY JOHN E. USALIS, EDITOR - News
Item
03/24/2007
ASHLAND - There's an old saying that "You can never
go home again." For those working toward the revitalization of
Ashland, that axiom is only partly true.
Ashland was built on coal and manufacturing, officially
incorporated as a borough in 1857. During its 150 years, there have
been good and not-so-good economic times as anthracite coal mining
increased, peaked and declined. Jobs became more difficult to find,
and as young people became better educated, the chance at a job with
increased pay and much improved working conditions led many from the
region. Just as with most area towns, out-migration is a fact of life,
at least for now.
A look up and down Centre Street, Ashland's main thoroughfare,
shows many contrasts. The borough has many homes and commercial properties
that are more than 100 years old. Some of the most unique architecture
in the region can be found throughout the borough, especially along
the main street. There are many empty storefronts, but at the same
time Ashland has seen at least a dozen new businesses open in the
past two years.
Ashland, and its surroundings, also has some of the
area's largest employers, including Goulds Pumps/ITT Industries, the
plant founded locally as Goyne's Pumps. There is Gitman Brothers,
a maker of premium dress and sport shirts in the original "Ashland
Shirt and Pajama" facility, making it one of the few clothing
manufacturers in the region. Another large employer is Tri-State Envelope,
whose tractor trailers can be seen on highways with the name "Ashland"
on the trailers.
In the past two years, a new effort had developed to
use Ashland's strengths to build on in the cause of revitalization.
The comprehensive effort, led by Ashland Downtown Inc. (ADI), hopes
to develop the borough's latent strengths and bring them to the forefront
through promotion, economic restructuring and just plain old hard
work.
Late last year, Ashland became a member of the Pennsylvania
Main Street Program, a proven five-year process that has helped many
communities. The people involved with ADI know that it will take a
concerted effort in many ways to produce results during those five
years, but also being aware that the effort will continue beyond the
program's end.
ADI President Louis Rader said that revitalization is
not to bring Ashland back to what it was, since times and economic
conditions are not the same. However, ADI, along with its partners
in borough government, businesses, community groups and individuals,
will deal with the here and now and take Ashland into the future.
Maybe you can't ever go home again, but you can always
take a part of it with you to build on in a different way.
"Although our downtown revitalization efforts can
never return us to the way it was in the good old days, we can and
will breathe life back into our main street appearance and refresh
our economic health," said Rader. "Making Ashland's downtown
district clean, green, bright, sociable and, above all, inviting and
prosperous is our goal for the near future. Our experience through
the main street efforts these past three years tells us there is a
tremendous level of community pride and willingness to see Ashland
thrive."
In the revitalization efforts in the six communities
that are linked through Upper Schuylkill Downtowns, one of Ashland's
great strengths is its architecture, which has been compared to the
Borough of Jim Thorpe in Carbon County, which has gone through its
own downtown makeover.
"Ashland is very fortunate to have retained much
of its downtown architectural design and charm throughout the decades,
while at the same time many beautiful structures throughout the area
have disappeared or have been covered," said Rader.
ADI has sponsored promotions such as AppleFest and Old-Fashioned
Christmas to draw people to the borough's downtown. But there are
others who continue to promote the town, especially the ABA Mummers
Committee, which plans the annual parade, now in its 106th year.
Ashland has also seen live performances return, thanks
to the Catholic Churches of Ashland Performing Arts Theatre Group,
which includes members of other churches and continues to grow. Director
Gina Laspina sees plenty of hope for Ashland as people continue to
pull together to make things better.
"Hopefully the efforts are going to continue to
grow and keep getting better," Laspina said. "Now with the
Main Street program getting started, I think it's awesome. If they
can get everyone involved in town and get them enthusiastic about
it, then it will be great."
Commenting about the drama group's events, such as "Born
for This," which will be performed again before Easter, and "Godspell,"
Laspina said, "We're trying to bring a lot of variety in cultural
programs so that people don't have to leave the area for similar events,
and for those who don't have the ability to travel distances."
Laspina said the programs are not only bringing more
people in to attend them, but there is also an increase in interest
by new people to get involved as part of the drama group.
"It works all around. It's great for the community,"
Laspina said.
Former Ashland mayor Rosemarie Noon has been a borough
resident most of her life and can see improvements.
"I think we're on the upswing. We've been down,
but just looking around the downtown shows that some revitalization
is taking place," said Noon.
Rader said the borough has other major assets to work
with in the revitalization effort.
"Ashland is extremely fortunate to be the home
of one of Pennsylvania's top 10 tourist attractions. The Pioneer Tunnel,
which draws nearly 40,000 tourists per year, and its neighbor, the
Anthracite Museum of Mining, provide an opportunity for Ashland to
draw attention into our downtown eateries and shops," Rader said.
"Smart business people look for progressive, attractive communities
on the move to locate or even relocate their businesses. The fact
that Ashland is now a Pennsylvania Main Street community greatly enhances
our appeal and will without a doubt provide the wherewithal for generating
community growth, attractiveness and a restoration of our economic
vitality.
"We will be striving to be a community/business
district in which residents and visitors want to work, shop, live
and socialize," said Rader.
© The News Item 2007
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