File this under "Think before you speak." Today's posting comes courtesy of WNEP.com regarding winds of change which are blowing in the small town of Old Forge, PA (pop. 8,000), a tightly-knit, predominantly Italian community (BTW, nationality has very little to do with the story.) Bold type added for emphasis.
Old Forge Losing Its Charm?
Tuesday, October 10, By Josh Brogadir
There are some who believe Old Forge is losing its charm, as a large section of the downtown is being torn down. A CVS pharmacy will soon be a fixture on Main Street in the center of Old Forge.
Long-standing Capitano's Pharmacy is empty. The once-popular lunch stop Talarico's Restaurant is boarded up.
A whole block of buildings on Main Street will be gone, to be replaced by the new pharmacy.
"We're now emerging as a tourist attraction for people to eat good pasta, good pizza, so what do they do? They rip the heart out of our town," complained Candace Marino of Old Forge.
She came back to Old Forge because it was Old Forge. As each beam and brick of the buildings goes, so too, she said, does the borough's character. "We had eleven mom and pop places here, places where like if you were my neighbor I could go, 'how do you do today,' and you could go, 'great, I did great, everybody from Old Forge came down,'" Marino added.
Wayne Staff won't knock the demolition. He thinks the borough is changing with the times. "I guess that's the way things go these days, you know, progress," he said.
Across the street from the new pharmacy will be a parking lot, giving residents and visitors a good view of another Old Forge business, Dooley's Pub. "The more traffic that comes through, the more people see Dooley's, and that's good for us. We'll take it," said Mark Matylewicz of Dooley's Pub.
While workers at Dooley's Pub sees it as a gain, Marino still can't help but think of all that will be lost.
"Welcome to Old Forge. Now we're going to be the drug store capital of Pennsylvania, instead of the pizza capital, and that's not fair," added Marino.
Many of the buildings on Main Street between Oak and Sussex, including several apartments, have been vacant for quite some time. That hasn't stopped Marino and some other people living in Old Forge from promising to boycott CVS when it opens its doors.
"The drug store capital of PA???" Oh, come ON. Once CVS is built, there will be exactly FOUR pharmacies in town, plus a rehabilitation apothecary. While it's sad to see small businesses swallowed up by the corporate machine, I laugh at the thought of a small band of minions single-handedly bringing CVS to its knees with their boycott. After all, 2 of the other 3 pharmacies in town are also national chains. Will you boycott them, too? Oh, I forgot, that'd be POINTLESS!!!
Lastly, I must also note that while Old Forge dubs itself "the pizza capital of the world," Old Forge-style pizza is bland and tasteless, IMNSHO!
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We have the same problem in Southern Va.
CVS Pharmacy, Inc. is about to tear down one of the most significant and beautiful historic structures in the small Southern Virginia town of Danville. The City government has been cowed into believing that they will be sued if they try to stop the demolition, and local preservationists and citizens have not been able to get CVS to listen.
CVS has a Memorandum of Agreement with the National Trust for Historic Preservation not to demolish buildings individually listed on the Historic Register. Though the prior owner, Dan River Fabrics, never pursued listing on the Register, the Virginia Department of Historic Resources and the APVA have issued an opinion that should Listing be pursued, this building would definitely be eligible for Individual Listing.
CVS is aware of this and still plans to demolish the building first thing next week. They are clearly violating the spirit, if not the letter, of their Memorandum of Agreement with the National Trust.
This is not an isolated incident. Look at message boards across the U.S. and you will see the repeated pattern of CVS arrogantly tearing down historic structures without regard to the community they proclaim to serve.
In time, CVS, and the other Box stores will render "Small Town America" into a mecca of strip malls and Box stores, each indistinguishable from the other, untill all of America is homogonized into one giant fast-food-shopping-parking lot. All trace of the indominitable spirit of our forefathers and the regional displays of architectural wonders, uniqueness and individuality will be gone.
CVS is sucking the soul out of the Main Street of Danville, please let them know that you disagree with their disregard for their Agreement with the National Trust, before they do it to your town, too.
Email CEO Tom Ryan at tmryan@cvs.com and tell him what you think.
-Carla
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