Ready or not, the Roaring Twenties 2.0 is fast approaching. As we ring in the New Year, we are also ringing in a new decade and looking back on the past decade.
Admittedly when we look back as a small community newspaper we realize it was hard to see the forest through the trees at times in the 2010s. Several stories that started about a decade ago are finally giving us closure as 2019 is about to expire.
The Antrim Wind energy project finally gained approval at the end of the decade with construction beginning this year and the wind farm set to be online before the end of or soon after 2019. But when the project was first proposed to the Select Board in 2010 it divided the residents of Antrim. While some were thrilled about the alternative energy project and supported it, others said there were potential harmful side affects to living near wind turbines, that wind turbines would disrupt wildlife as well as ruin the view of Willard Pond and have a negative impact on the conserved land around the pond. It will be interesting to see over the next ten years who was right and how the wind farm benefits, or not, the environment and town.
The Park Theatre in Jaffrey is another news story we have followed through the 2010s. And honestly folks there were times it looked like the project was never going to be completed. Especially when the original building was deemed beyond rehabilitation and was demolished in 2013. The effort really started when the grassroots group hoping to revitalize the former vaudeville house and movie theatre bought the building in 2006. There was a lot of interest and excitement, however, fundraising efforts hit a major snag when the Great Recession of 2008 reared its ugly head. But to their credit, the folks behind the Park Theatre capital campaign soldiered on and played the long game and were finally able to begin construction of the new theater this year with plans to hold a grand opening this summer. We really hope the people who want to build the Thornton Wilder Center for the Arts at ConVal High School in Peterborough take the Park Thearte’s long journey to heart and know while it may be a long trek, such a big project in the name of the performing arts is possible in the Monandock Region.
It is certainly exciting to think what is possible in the region over the next 10 years.