Richmond, Indiana: The Explosion of 1968
My hometown of Richmond, Indiana is located right on the Indiana/Ohio border between Indianapolis and Dayton. It is both a typical and atypical Rust Belt city, with several large factories such as the Star-Gennett Record Company and a lawn mower factory that grew its population to a peak of 44,000 in the 60s. Most of these have since closed and the population has steadily been decreasing to 35,000 today.
On April 2, 1968, a guns and ammo store downtown inadvertently ignited a gas leak from a corroded pipe which exploded and destroyed 2 blocks of downtown Main Street while damaging many of the other buildings surrounding the area. Since the explosion came 2 days after the assassination of MLK Jr., it was emphasized in reports that unlike protests and riots around the country, this explosion was an accident and not racially or politically charged, which meant the recovery and aftermath was much less divisive than other parts of the country. (However, Richmond and central Indiana did/does still have an extremely troubled past in terms of racial discrimination and the reemergence of the KKK)
On April 2, 1968, a guns and ammo store downtown inadvertently ignited a gas leak from a corroded pipe which exploded and destroyed 2 blocks of downtown Main Street while damaging many of the other buildings surrounding the area. Since the explosion came 2 days after the assassination of MLK Jr., it was emphasized in reports that unlike protests and riots around the country, this explosion was an accident and not racially or politically charged, which meant the recovery and aftermath was much less divisive than other parts of the country. (However, Richmond and central Indiana did/does still have an extremely troubled past in terms of racial discrimination and the reemergence of the KKK)
Aftermath of the Explosion
The downtown recovery from the explosion is what is interesting to me. Richmond took advantage of the disaster to completely redo the infrastructure of Main Street. With the help of federal funding it became a pedestrian mall with fountains, outdoor seating, etc. This is a major change from the traditional downtown street of most small cities. While the street infrastructure was very forward thinking, the redevelopment of the buildings were not. The Elder-Beerman Department store agreed to build a large store on one of the main corners entering downtown, but in fear of protests and riots that were still going on around the country, they refused to put any windows in the building. It is a three story cast in place box with a big parking lot behind it. Other smaller buildings on the edge of the downtown were set back further from the street and built to a more suburban model of development, losing the original density of downtown.
Unfortunately, this new development could not compete with the outward suburban expansion that even effected small town Indiana. More and more big-box businesses began moving North and East to the Interstate. Finally, in 1999, under pressure from the few businesses still downtown, the city converted Main Street back to a vehicular road. Today there has been renewed investment in the downtown such as converting half of a vacant parking lot into a small bandstand and plans to add a bike lane along main street, both of which were met with severe backlash from the community.
Incredibly interesting story with a tear jerking finish.
ReplyDeleteGreat summary, super fun to read. It is sad though, sort of makes me loose hope for 'citizen first' design in the States. Surely the tone of the country was vastly different then but the heartache is still the same. The death of a downtown. A loss of for the city. A loss for us.
lose*
DeleteThank you, it was very interesting to read! Great illustration of how historical and social context defines the environment through designers and citizens. I think/hope that in design there is always a sort of contr-reaction and as the trends are approaching small towns and the active population becomes more and more millennialish there will be new movement pretty soon.
ReplyDeleteHow interesting that this renovation was in response to an accidental incident that just so happened to occur at the same time of these politically charged revolts. I think comparing the results and alterations of the built environment of Richmond, Indiana and another city (maybe Detroit) at the same time could bring up some interesting similarities but also many differences! Something that you said that really stood out to me is "While the street infrastructure was very forward thinking, the redevelopment of the buildings were not." I think with redevelopment of urban spaces this balance between being forward thinking and designing within a context and culture is a really interesting challenge that we as architects face.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting story! I think it showed an interesting situation of how communities can respond to disasters. The response is often met with energy and drive to respect the context and create the best space possible in light of a disastrous event. In my hometown, a building on the town square caught fire and burned to the ground, leaving only the facade that lined the street and a few steel columns and beams behind it. Rather than tear the old brick facade down and rebuild, the city used it as a design element and created a pocket park within the space the building had occupied.
ReplyDeleteThis is very interesting but I think that it's a common refrain for many former vibrant downtown areas. I know we talked a lot about making cities more dense and vibrant. I'm wondering if we ever discussed what pushed people out in the first place (obviously the windowless department store didnt' help, but it's just one building). American culture seems obsessed with being able to get everywhere in your car. I wonder if this culture force lead more to the downfall of the great main-streets of american more so than the lack of windows?
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