Middle Town’s Keepers: Investing in the Heart of Grand Island“You really stirred things up!” the attorney said to Jane. “Oh, don’t let that bother you,” Jane replied. “This is Nebraska. Almost everyone around here has a gun.” |
 |
 |
|
Slideshow: |
|
IN 1994, when Jane Meidlinger and Judy Lambertus donned tennis shoes and made beelines out the front doors of their historic Grand Island homes, it wasn’t for a leisurely stroll through what many in town refer to as “the walking district.”
They barely noticed the lush canopy of century-old trees that shaded them from the blazing sun. Even the potpourri of architecture bathed in a rainbow of paint escaped their attention that day. They were on a mission.
It had begun much like a game of telephone. Judy’s husband heard from a reliable source (a co-worker at Grand Island’s New Holland plant who also served as a city councilman) that Walgreens on 2nd Street was attempting to extend its parking lot south. Construction of that sort would put the proposed slab of concrete in the lap of some lovely homes on First Street (where the Lambertus family lived) and in the backyards of those on Division Street, such as the Meidlingers. Worse yet, if even one business was allowed to encroach on Grand Island’s oldest residential neighborhood, it would just be a matter of time, they reasoned, until other businesses would make their moves.
Armed with 500 flyers aimed simply at informing residents of the proposed encroachment and inviting them to a meeting at Wasmer Elementary School, Jane and Judy covered all the houses along Second, First, Division, Charles and Koenig streets between Blaine Street and Greenwich Avenue – a 5-by-15 block area.
Walgreens sent a representative to the meeting, but it would take more than a suit from out of town to impress the 150 residents who’d turned out – people who “understood that a violation south of First Street would intrinsically change life for the rest of them,” Jane said. “It was like standing on the crest of a wave.”
Since those days, Judy wears the title “Pit Bull” with pride, and most will never forget Leo Peterson from the 1600 block of West First Street standing to address the opposition.
“On the farm, they know where to put the outhouse,” he said, “and it’s not in front of the house!”
Following the meeting, Jane received a phone call from a corporate attorney who had made the long trip to Grand Island in hopes of soliciting the sales of homes along West First Street. No one was convinced, and one homeowner reportedly punctuated choice words on his front porch with the barrel of his rifle.
“You really stirred things up!” the attorney said to Jane. “Oh, don’t let that bother you,” Jane replied. “This is Nebraska. Almost everyone around here has a gun.”
The good news was that, in the threat of commercial encroachment, Middle Town Heritage Association was born. Paula Pollart on West First Street put up the $150 to register the articles of incorporation with the state; residents invited city council members to tour the neighborhood, which they accepted; and the unison protests of an entire community eventually made it to the listening ears of the Hall County Planning Commission. For people like Jane, Judy and Paula, it seemed to take a long time, but conditional use permits were denied, and strict zoning was imposed on businesses – all of which allowed Middle Town’s homeowners to exhale.
Still smiling about the shared passion which had surfaced among neighbors, Jane launched a Middle Town Heritage Association newsletter which would continue neighborhood communication on other issues – such as the opening of the new Wasmer Elementary School in 2000, the subsequent fate of the old building seven blocks west and the curious opening and quick closing of a group home for disabled women.
On the lighter side, the newsletter became a tool for organizing Fourth of July parties, printing directions for old-fashioned front yard Christmas luminaries and a means of distributing the quaint front yard signs which, to the delight of all passersby, adorn the front yards of many Middle Town homes – declaring the age of each (Circa 1882 and on into the 1940s). Even today, dues for Middle Town Heritage Association are kept at $5 annually, just enough to cover printing and postage of the newsletter, allowing homeowners to sink their savings into their homes.