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DUNEBOGGLE

Well, this brings back a lot of memories:

Historic Plymouth OKs building $488M movie studio

It isn't exactly breaking news. This happened a month ago. Must be a slow news day at AP.

My family grew up in Plymouth. Some still live in or near there. I was the Town Meeting Moderator for awhile.

Lots to reflect about in reading the article.

Of course, I know nothing about it. I haven't been to Plymouth in "that way" for a very long time. I hear about stuff from the kids but not much sinks in except this: things haven't changed one bit.

Plymouth is like a fairy tale story. The stepdaughter waiting for a prince. Or the stepson waiting for the princess. Well, I know there was/is a stepson waiting for a prince too. You get the idea.

When I was in Town Meeting the big developers came and went. The wonder projects filled with hope.

Once, Plymouth did get the big prize. A nuclear power plant, long since shut down. It was called "Pilgrim".

Some big prize.

Every developer jumps on the Pilgrim's bandwagon. Or the present day pilgrims jump onto the developers'.

I was amused by the Town Meeting members comments. "We don't need this, we have the Rock". She means Plymouth Rock itself. A hunk of granite housed in a neoclassical rotunda for tourist viewing.

And that is pretty much the problem. Plymouth was a mill town before the time we moved there. Textiles. They all went South. Now to Asia or Africa someplace.

Then there was only the tourist business. "Tourist" because no one stayed in Plymouth. They just stopped to see the Rock and the Mayflower reproduction and the really nicely setup Plimouth Plantation.

Have dinner, maybe one night stayover. No more. And off to Boston or the Cape for the real vacation stay.

Since then there have been many 'projects' that would save the town. This means that they would increase the tax base. Stimulate business. Very few happened. Plymouth became part of the Boston suburban sprawl. More people moved in to burden the schools and town services.

I see that this studio development will get a five year property tax rebate. An old story. Rob Peter to pay Paul. The Town will be left to build the infrastructure with its own funds. The studio, if any, will get off cheaper than it should.

See?

Thirty and more years later I am still in Town Meeting mode.

Before I was the Town Meeting Moderator, I was the Chairman of the guardian Finance Committee that recommended to the Town Meeting.

Most likely, I would have worked against this project. "We can't pull ourselves up by anyone's bootstraps but our own". Or something to that effect.

Oh. Did you notice that they have no financing at the present time? What chances do you think they have?

Labels: film, nostalgia, politics