November 17, 2009 — Save the past, leave courthouse as it is
Dear Editor,
In response to the article and the ads posted at the courthouse to vote for a new courthouse I’d like to share my opinion.
I was born and raised in Claremore, for most of my life. I have always loved living in a small town, where everyone knows everyone else. As the town continues to grow larger, I get nostalgic for the way things used to be. I am all for progress, don’t get me wrong. My problem is we seem to be heading in the wrong direction. Too many traffic lights in the wrong places, and not enough in the right places, like east 20.
Mayor Taylor of Tulsa made a huge mistake in my opinion when she abandoned their city hall for a new one. It was a huge waste of money. This seems to be the same path Claremore is on. Why should we tear down or get rid of a perfectly great WPA building to build an ugly monstrosity we don’t need? Why should Judge Post have an entire floor of the courthouse for her court? Put her in a regular courtroom, or better yet, get rid of the osu ext. office and the probation office, etc., and use that space for some more court rooms. That same courthouse used to house DHS, the Jail, the Sheriff, the courts, the D.A., the court clerk and cost administrator and a host of other things. It no longer has the jail, sheriff, DHS...so...what went wrong? Most likely Politics.
Personally I am sick and dang tired of seeing the lovely and loved buildings that I grew up with being torn down. It’s like we have no respect for the past and our local history. The WPA was a very important part of our past and we are losing those structures rapidly. The Old Armory building...torn down to make a parking lot????
The old rock church on Seminole....torn down for what??? Just the other day I watched a crew destroy the old hitching posts, next to Steve’s Saturday Store!
I watched a crew a while ago tear down and cover the old J.C. Penney’s sign. What ever happened to Main Street Claremore??? I’m sure it will be the old Wilson’s Hardware sign next....or the old Franklin Hospital. Maybe I am the only native who cares, but I am fed up with losing my hometown! Leave the Courthouse as it is, and make it function properly! And, if anyone sees the old Cinema we had when I was a little girl....the one on Main St. with the triangle shaped marquee, like Pryor has, or the old Mason Hotel, or the old Long’s meusem and motel, or the old cozy Motel, and even the old Melody Motel, let me know....I sure do miss them.
Raelynne Campbell-Valenteyn
Claremore
