after the trip

So many interesting things happened during my trip up North. I was able to meet with Frumie and take a tour of the mill site led by Carl Belanger, a former mill worker who is now employed with North American Dismantling. Here are few images from our trip. I may post more images on the project blog.

I was able to record several people including:
Steve, Deb, Roland, Gary, Larry, Norm, Arielle, Alyssa and Tyler.

The recording was interesting and it was more difficult to find "random" people to do it than I had anticipated. At the arena, many people were shy and did not want to be recorded. When I worked at the Berlin Reporter as a "photographer" I was amazing at getting people to answer my person on the street questions. . . then I remembered that I would ask them the question--write it down--then pull out the camera. Most of the people would allow me to take their picture since they had already responded. Plus I had a digital camera (big deal in those days) and I would show them the image to make sure they liked it.

While interviewing Roland and Gary, who both left the mill in 2001 when it closed the first time, I was surprised at how emotional they became when thinking about the situation but then I realized it was due in part to their recollections about friends and other more personal memories.

Most people had a few ideas about what could/should go on the site but this part of the project is becoming hard for me. Since we know that North American Dismantling owns the site, we know that they are looking to sell the site. Carl reported that there are already interested parties. This means that the community has very little input as to what actual will go there. I do think that who ever purchases the land will try to be a 'good neighbor' but it seems as though there is little space for input.

Despite all of this or maybe because of it, there will be an open forum on the site discussing what should be done there. The citizens will propose ideas (I think) the city has applied for a $100,000 grant to develop ideas (and I guess market, promote etc) and present them to the North American Dismantling company or more appropriately, who ever buys the site from them.