Editorial: Connecting the Town and Gown Dots

One of the more reassuring aspects of the current Chestertown Town Council, and particularly Chris Cerino in his new role as mayor, is that a certain pragmatism seems to be an instinctive response to some of the town’s many challenges. While there seems to be a greater sense of openness to new ideas with the new council, there is also an equally comforting counterpoint, with the desire for small, incremental “baby steps” to use the Mayor’s language, to have some of them implemented.

One example of this has been the town marina. While the case for greater private investment and commercial use are intriguing, the town has put forward a plan that addresses the marina’s more immediate and practical needs. Rather than too much high concept, the strategy seeks to stabilize the site and make it appropriately functional. There are very few bells and whistles, but a lot of very non-sexy tasks of repair and dredging.

The marina plan is the right move. By decisively moving forward on the waterfront, Chestertown is pro-actively protecting one of its most expensive and important assets. It is a good, reasonable, and responsible solution.

And yet, it is also important not to lose sight of the “big picture” when it comes to the Chester River and Chestertown. And part of that big picture must be with Washington College. As the town moves forward on plans to maintain the marina, expand park space, and add additional segments to the rails to trails, there remains an extraordinary opportunity for the town and the college to collaborate in a powerfully strategic way.

That opportunity to do so has always existed before, but it is made all the more appealing at this point in time with the long serving college trustee Jay Griswold assuming the role of President of Washington College and Chestertown’s election of a new mayor. With both starting at roughly the same time, free of political baggage and institutional history, and possessing a great appreciation for creative and sensible solutions, the moment seems ripe for a new era for both the school and the community.

As the Spy has pointed out in numerous editorials and news articles over the past five years, the notion that a college and a town share in a sophisticated development plan is not a new one. Over the last few decades, quite a few towns and colleges, large and small, have developed serious partnerships to collectively use financial and political capital to accomplish great things they could not have been accomplished on their own.

From small towns in Ohio to the old regional cities in New York, institutions of higher education, with local municipalities, have invested in and profited by a long-term strategic plan. Those alliances have provided tangible evidence that by working side by side, communities and their local colleges, can dramatically improve their region’s economic sustainability while also profit from a higher quality of life.

One would think that the impulse for Washington College and Chestertown to want to work together would be well developed over the course of their 230 odd years of living together. While one cannot take away the role that WC’s founder William Smith or George Washington played in the creation of the school in 1782, it must be remembered that it was the town of Chestertown, not a church, or  a rich patron, nor a state government, that instigated the creation of the college.

Nonetheless, this intertwined relationship has sometimes been lost as both college and town have tried to go it their own ways over the years. Periodic small scale projects have united the two from time to time, but that “big picture” chat has not taken place since town leaders sat down with Dr. Smith to craft what was to become a stunning, revolutionary blueprint for American higher education.

Regardless of history, there are now forces at play that makes one feel the time is right to have that “big picture” conversation. Chestertown, facing the aftermath of the great recession, must reinvent itself to keep its downtown vibrant. At the same time, the College must confront unprecedented competition for students and faculty seeking a unique community in which to live, learn, and work. By connecting the dots strategically on the Chester River and throughout Chestertown, these long time best friends have an extraordinary chance to build a 21st century blueprint for the region that can be just as revolutionary now as it was for the first one in the 18th century.

It is hoped that both Chestertown and the College can take a collective leap into the future together rather than falling into it by themselves.