Urban Myopia or 20/20 Vision

Published 8:30 am Sunday, October 17, 2010

One of my favorite cartoon characters as a young child was Mr. Magoo who appeared frequently on the silver screen at the Saengar Theater in downtown Mobile.  He was extremely nearsighted and either didn’t realize he was myopic or perhaps was in denial.  I found him particularly amusing because he would invariably misjudge anything and everything he’d encounter and do so in a most pompous fashion.

    Near-sightedness stopped being something to laugh about when I was diagnosed as myopic.  It was in the third grade that I would have to move to the front row of the classroom and squint in order to read the assignments on the blackboard — this was long before the change to green boards.  I was subsequently cursed with the nickname of Four-Eyes, and subjected to great ridicule on the playground.

    Once I was recognized as having a visual impairment, I was issued spectacles and told to visit Dr. Ritchie’s office weekly for “visual training”.  The visual training consisted of staring into boxes that had images projected that required effort to be brought into focus.  The sessions were a chore, but they presented an adventure for a nine-year-old with riding a Mobile City Lines bus downtown to the optometrist’s office in one of Mobile’s first skyscrapers, the Van Antwerp Building.

    After several years my visual training was stopped, meaning either my vision had been stabilized or my dad had finished paying for the doctor’s new car.  Either way, I no longer had to make my weekly trip downtown.  Those visits were worthwhile on a couple of levels.  First, my vision was stabilized and I no longer had to change my prescription to stronger lenses a couple of times a year.  On another level, I experienced a new vision of the heart of my hometown.  I found downtown Mobile to be an exciting, energized, vibrant market place in the 1950’s.  On any given downtown trek I could take in a movie at one of the four motion picture theaters, peruse the jokes (some a tad risqué) at Bonner Novelty Company, check out the collection at the Haunted Book Store and buy a treat at Three George’s Candy or Planters Peanut Shop.

    We talk about visionary leadership with some frequency.  People of vision have sustained downtown Meridian over the years, and we have much to celebrate.  I’ll never forget running into the first mayor I worked with, Alfred Rosenbaum, in the Post Office a day or so after the public announcement was made about the sale of the hospital and the creation of the Riley Foundation.  I asked him if we were finally going to be able to do something about the Opera House.  He looked at me and said in his inimitable style, “What in the hell do you think we’re doing this for?”  As they say, the rest is history.

    Jimmy Kemp had a vision for downtown Meridian that included the greening of a then concrete vista.  Under his direction, street trees were planted along every downtown street and avenue.  Planters were built and landscaped at virtually every intersection in the core downtown.  A sterile monolith was changed into an inviting vista as a result of one man’s vision for the downtown.

    There have been many visionaries leaving their mark on the downtown.  Those efforts, more often than not, were spurred by their personal memories of the downtown of their youth.  The gumbo of retail, residential, performance venues, educational, dining and watering holes we’re building in downtown Meridian is the result of our individual memories of the past.  We are building on that nostalgia to create a new downtown that this generation of children can enjoy, cherish and sustain as they move on to adulthood.

    We all need to take off our blinders, eschew our Mr. Magoo act, and move from urban myopia to visionary participation.  The downtown belongs to all stakeholders, and their involvement is essential if we are to make our exciting vision a reality.

    John McClure is the executive director of Meridian Main Street, a not for profit, public/private partnership working in concert with others for the revitalization of downtown Meridian.  To join Main Street or to learn more about it call the office at (601) 693-7480 or send an e-mail to johnmcclure@meridianmainstreet.com.