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It's only five years until Plainfield's 150th anniversary. In 1969, a Centennial Celebration Committee gathered memorabilia and "prophecies for the future" for a time capsule to be opened on Jan. 1, 2020, after the anniversary.
As noted on the plaque, the time capsule was donated by City Federal Savings.The building at East Second and Watchung is now a branch of Investors Bank, but the time capsule is still there.
As intriguing it is to speculate what might be in the capsule, it is even more so to imagine the shape of the downtown in five years if all the proposed development comes about. There could be hundreds of new apartments downtown and even more around the Netherwood train station. By then, there might be a parking deck instead of a parking lot on East Second Street.
One of the city's chronic impediments to progress has been the turnover of administrations every four years or so. During the tenure of the late Mayor Albert T. McWilliams, about a dozen development proposals were in the pipeline. Most were ignored by the Robinson-Briggs administration in favor of new ones, but the only major completed project was The Monarch, with 63 condos over senior and veterans' centers. The units are now largely rentals and the veterans' center has yet to be occupied by city veterans.
The administration of Mayor Adrian O. Mapp has pledged to revisit several redevelopment plans in addition to welcoming some new ones. I hope the study led by Dr. Roland Anglin will be considered also.
From a 2013 blog post:
Currently, the city is receiving guidance from The Anglin Group on economic development. I have read the 148-page document on "Promoting the Community and Economic Development of Plainfield" produced by Anglin and associates at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy and can recommend it to anyone interested in the subject. It outlines five strategies for Plainfield that could be applied in the next four years. If they are being applied now, somebody should be able to tell the public how and give specific examples.
The key to progress appears to be a shared interest among all "stakeholders" including elected officials in a positive outcome. If the administration and governing body are at odds, developers will likely go somewhere else. This is not to say Plainfield has to agree to any scheme that comes along without proper vetting and controls over development, but there has to be more welcoming and less territoriality from officials. A developer can't be expected to intuit the turfiness of a city and pick one faction over another, hoping it is the right one to get things done.
As noted on the plaque, the time capsule was donated by City Federal Savings.The building at East Second and Watchung is now a branch of Investors Bank, but the time capsule is still there.
As intriguing it is to speculate what might be in the capsule, it is even more so to imagine the shape of the downtown in five years if all the proposed development comes about. There could be hundreds of new apartments downtown and even more around the Netherwood train station. By then, there might be a parking deck instead of a parking lot on East Second Street.
One of the city's chronic impediments to progress has been the turnover of administrations every four years or so. During the tenure of the late Mayor Albert T. McWilliams, about a dozen development proposals were in the pipeline. Most were ignored by the Robinson-Briggs administration in favor of new ones, but the only major completed project was The Monarch, with 63 condos over senior and veterans' centers. The units are now largely rentals and the veterans' center has yet to be occupied by city veterans.
The administration of Mayor Adrian O. Mapp has pledged to revisit several redevelopment plans in addition to welcoming some new ones. I hope the study led by Dr. Roland Anglin will be considered also.
From a 2013 blog post:
Currently, the city is receiving guidance from The Anglin Group on economic development. I have read the 148-page document on "Promoting the Community and Economic Development of Plainfield" produced by Anglin and associates at the Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy and can recommend it to anyone interested in the subject. It outlines five strategies for Plainfield that could be applied in the next four years. If they are being applied now, somebody should be able to tell the public how and give specific examples.
The key to progress appears to be a shared interest among all "stakeholders" including elected officials in a positive outcome. If the administration and governing body are at odds, developers will likely go somewhere else. This is not to say Plainfield has to agree to any scheme that comes along without proper vetting and controls over development, but there has to be more welcoming and less territoriality from officials. A developer can't be expected to intuit the turfiness of a city and pick one faction over another, hoping it is the right one to get things done.
Anglin advocated for a written plan to establish "Plainfield 2021," a process for improving the city's economy and quality of life. Whether one aims for 2019, 2020 or 2021, the impending milestone seems reason enough to cooperate on laying groundwork for the city's future decades.
Meanwhile, I wonder what is in that time capsule from 1969. If you had made one then, what would you have included?
--Bernice
phony draft card, couple of joints, Tommy, Let It Bleed, Live/Dead, bad report card
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