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I had an exhilarating conversation with Lindsey Spence about Livonia's governance since its founding as a city in 1950. We discussed what makes a successful hometown, personality of leadership or redefining projects, and I came down on the side of transformational projects that defined our early years and laid the groundwork for the present and future.
In the 1950s, Livonia's city council met with the Felician Sisters and pitched the concept of a hospital to help drive the formation of an identity based on healthcare. The identity is internal with our residents and external with families looking for medical care and a place to raise a family.
In the 1960s, Dan Andrew and Don Friedrichs met to discuss the need for a recreational aspect to attract young families. The result was a citizen-driven campaign to raise the money to build a YMCA, a recreation center for young families. The identity is internal with our residents and external with families looking for recreational opportunities.
In the 1970s, citizens joined together to create an annual birthday celebration, Spree, which proved to be a gathering internally of residents and externally with families looking to Livonia for a fun week of hometown celebration. Follow those up with the purchase of the Greenmead Hill Farm, preservation of the Wilson Barn and the vision to preserve Livonia's history to draw families from throughout the region to see a slice of regional history.
Add the citizen-driven movement for the approval of a central Library and the opening of the Livonia Recreation Center. Each is designed to showcase an aspect of Livonia's quality of life.
Leadership personalities each had a say in moving Livonia forward. Still, it was the vision of transformational bridges that created a hometown that over 75 years has defined Western Wayne County as other communities looked to Livonia for ideas and vision.
Yes, Dan Andrews and Don Friedrichs were the leaders bringing us the need for a YMCA. John Dufour had the vision of park open space. Ed McNamara realized the benefit of purchasing Greenmead. Bob Bennett and Geraldine Joyner saw the preservation of the Wilson Barn as benefiting the telling of Livonia's history. Jack Kirksey and Mike Duggan understood the need for a community recreation center.
Citizens understood the need for Vision 21 and Maureen Brosnan realized the need to implement the changes.
Personalities are important but let us not forget that the change brought about by transformational projects maintains the youthful progress needed to propel a hometown into the future.
Livonia needs to build on the success of transformational visions, including the re-purposing of Noble Library, not the tearing down, but a transformation that benefits all of Livonia and showcases our hometown as realizing the need for creative approaches to providing services to our residents.
Years from now we will look back on the transformation of the Vision 21 landscape and hopefully at the repurposing of the Noble Library.
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