The heart of Downtown never stopped beating

I had a few memorable conversations during the tumultuous 2014-2018 era of Poplar Bluff city government.

One, in particular, struck me this week, as I started my morning to the sounds of jackhammers breaking apart a bank drive-thru.

It was with a city council person at the time, during the controversial debate over where a new city hall would be located.

A lot of locations outside downtown were being proposed. Every time the topic came up at council, held then in the damp, leaky old Second Street complex, the room would be full of disgruntled citizens. They were always, and have since been, I believe, ready to fight to keep their city government seat in the historic heart of downtown.

Not all of the council members — or one particular fired former city manager — appreciated the coverage we gave those meetings or the hard questions we asked about proposed new locations.

More than one individual in a position of responsibility accused me of stopping important and necessary progress when I reported on the inspection of Northwest Medical Center. The Barron Road facility was being considered as a replacement city complex in 2017.

Among a long list of maintenance needs, the inspector at Northwest noted the basement — the planned new home of the police department — flooded multiple times a year because of issues on a neighboring piece of property. The city backed out of contract negotiations not long after the inspection report became public, even as some in official positions said the paper never should have published the information.

(In fact, I have two items in my office from 2017. One is a plaque from former Mayor Ed DeGaris recognizing my “fair and honest reporting,” and the other is a subscription refund demand from a member of the same council because of my “bias, rag journalism,” swearing never to speak to me again. I’m proud of both, because they are both the result of asking hard questions, even at a time when some found it easier to say nothing.)

More than one supporter of “any other location,” anxious for “progress,” told me downtown Poplar Bluff was dead. It had been dead for decades, nothing ever changed here and nothing ever would.

My response to that comment has always been, “It can certainly get worse, and if we never start, we’ll never accomplish anything.”

Former city council member Ed DeGaris had another thought on the subject. The city is the largest property owner downtown, he said. If it can’t do better, how can it ask its citizens to do better?

Change may have felt slow in coming to downtown, but its heart has always been beating.

It was kept alive by people like the owners of Myrtle’s, Greg and Letha Hays and the Roaches, who never stopped trying to bring their city home.

It was made stronger by the owners of Haffy’s, Foxtrot, Bronze Owl, Southern Care and Comfort and others, who came because of the unfulfilled potential.

It will thrive again because of the new blood, Poplar Bluff School District, the Morgans, the Hensons, and others who are now the source of those construction sounds. The city will soon add it’s own jackhammers as it deals with the long-condemned downtown parking garage.

I can’t truly say the sound of jackhammering makes phone interviews or other work easier, but then I’ve had the occasional train whistle to contend with for the past 15 years, so I suppose I’ll manage.

After all, it’s all in the name of progress.

Donna Farley is the editor of the Daily American Republic. She can be reached at dfarley.dar@gmail.com.