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March 19, 2007

A Port in Progress

John Macone The Daily News of Newburyport Mon Mar 19, 2007, 08:19 AM EDT

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Today in the Daily News you will see the first part of a unique project, "A Port in Progress."

It's a series of stories that we will publish weekly, over the next several months. Our goal is to tell the incredible story of how Newburyport fought the federal bulldozer of Urban Renewal and restored its downtown. We'll also focus on the people who became involved, the problems that were solved, the challenges that remain to this day, and how this recent past might affect the city's future.

We chose this time to run this series because recent events have made it clear that the next several months will be pivotal decision-making times for Newburyport's downtown. Consider:

r After nearly four decades, the fate of the Newburyport Redevelopment Authority's waterfront dirt lots is likely to be decided. Plans have been submitted to make them into a waterfront park and parking lot.

r Steven Karp, the billionaire developer who owns the largest share of downtown Newburyport, has now bought all the private land along Newburyport's downtown waterfront. This places him in a position to complete the redevelopment of the downtown in ways that people a generation or two ago never envisioned.

r The public dialogue over preservation, and the future of Newburyport, is growing. As Newburyport approaches the next major stage of its downtown evolution, it seems important to recall how we got where we are, and what the community hopes for in the future.

For the past two-and-a-half months, the staff at The Daily News has been digging in places all over the city, from the well-cared-for basement archives of the Newburyport Public Library to the cobwebbed attic of City Hall, from our own extensive photo archives and microfilm, to the photo albums of Newburyporters who documented the downtown's fall and rise. And we've talked to many people who have shared their thoughts and recollections.

We'll be sharing all of this, and more, with our readers over the next several months, because, like Newburyport itself, it is a work in progress.

The most important part of the series is you. We hope this will be an opportunity for Newburyporters to renew the dialogue about what has happened here over the past four decades. Also, it's an opportunity for the community to discuss what lies ahead.

If you lived here during the time of these great changes, we encourage you to share your own recollections and photos, and your feedback. If you're a more recent resident, your opinions and thoughts are valuable, too. We welcome your views on our opinion and news pages.

Our Web site — newburyportnews.com — will have extensive information on the series, as well. We encourage you to log on and check us out.

We at The Daily News have never done a series like this. In fact, we couldn't find a paper that had done something like this -- usually newspapers will publish an intense series of stories over a period of days, or maybe a couple of weeks. Too often, attention dies out before people have a chance to think about what they have read.

We want to carry "A Port in Progress" over a long haul because it is about our community. We want to give our readers ample opportunity to take part.

Our goal is to tell as many stories, show as many photos, and publish as many opinions as possible. Then, let's see where it leads us.

John Macone is editor of The Daily News.

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