MEADVILLE PA EMBRACES ITS NEW NORMAL
“Residents know that the town as they knew before the departure of two major companies is not coming back, but the town that we have is a good one.” Amara Geffen, Artist & Director, Art and Environment Initiative
In 1788 Meadville became the first permanent settlement in northwestern Pennsylvania. In the early 19th Century, with proximity to Lake Erie via a canal system then the railroad, Meadville enjoyed prosperity with transportation, logging, agriculture and iron supporting a growing community that became the County Seat. In 1904, a tool making company, Channellock relocated from nearby Conneaut Lake to Meadville where it remains as a well-known national brand. In the 1920’s Meadville based Talon Zipper company perfected the manufacture and mass marketing of the zipper. This industry became the centerpiece of manufacturing in the community, until it lost its command of the industry, was acquired and moved overseas in the 1980’s. In the meantime, with so many experience craftsmen in town, tool and die making became a cottage industry, leading to Meadville’s title “Tool City”. Today Meadville based Acutec Precision Aerospace has taken advantage of the same skill sets to design and manufacture light weight parts for airplanes.
Even with the loss of Talon’s jobs, unlike most of Pennsylvania’s rural counties, Crawford County continued to grow, reaching its peak population in 2000. But by 2018, the Census Bureau estimates that the county population declined 6% from its peak. In that sense, Meadville and its surrounding county have fared better than many of the states’ 48 rural counties. According to a report from the Center for Rural Pennsylvania, an agency of the state legislature, in 2017 alone, 6% of young adults ages 18-34 moved out of rural Pennsylvania, 63% to another state and 37% to urban Pennsylvania. Of those who moved, 46% had bachelors’ degrees or higher, while only 23% of those who stayed had degrees. According to a report by Penn State Harrisburg’s Institute for State and Regional Affairs, overall population growth in rural Pennsylvania counties is expected to continue to be sluggish over the next twenty years.
As the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts (PCA) considered the Creative Communities Initiative(CCI), one of the issues was to consider communities that did not have arts organizations with the capacity to convene the community for a collaborative arts related community development program. While arts-based strategies are the foundation of CCI programs, grantees can be community -based organizations or municipalities, not necessarily arts organizations. In the case of Meadville two organizations stepped forward to lead the community’s initiative: The Arc of Crawford County and Arts & Environment Initiative, a program that originated at Allegheny College. Both organizations are firmly rooted in the community and together have the capacity to bring many others in this city of 13,000 into the program.
The Arc of Crawford County is a non-profit social service organization that “promotes and protects the human rights of people with intellectual & developmental disabilities and actively supports their full inclusion & participation in the community throughout their lifetimes”. Included in its extensive portfolio of services to residents of Crawford County (in 12 surrounding counties) are programs that bring their clients together for community based experiences, including arts program. While definitely not a traditional arts organization, The Arc is deeply engrained in the community and with annual revenue in the $10M range, has the capacity to address the administrative and organizational needs for the proposed CCI program. Mark Weindorf, Executive Director of The Arc has a vision for the CCI Meadville program to bring the community together in an environment where The Arc’s clients will not only be engaged and welcome, but also may take on roles in which they are relevant to the success of the program.
The co-applicant with The Arc is the Art and Environment Initiative (AEI) led by Amara Geffen, Director. Geffen is an artist and educator, who recently retired from Meadville’s Allegheny University, where she created the AEI in 1997. With support from the college, and an impressive array of grants, Geffen has led over 20 public art projects in Meadville and northwestern PA. Each of the projects has involved environmental considerations, from a massive sculptural relief made from recycled road signs that screens PennDOT’s storage yard in Meadville to an eco-art project that merges Earth Art with best management practices in the environmental mitigation of stormwater runoff as part of the I-79 Meadville Interchange. The later required buy in from the Federal Highway Administration. While CCI programs do not have to be artist led, Geffen’s involvement assures a level of artistic and community engagement that is important.
One of the key features of the program proposed in the Meadville application is the synergy with a very thoughtful, comprehensive community plan, My Meadville, developed through the PA Humanities Council’s Heart and Soul program. In the plan the community detailed what they wanted in their community in categories ranging from inclusion to transportation. The plan demonstrates that Meadville has both leadership and social capital to continue to move the community forward after it has sustained an economic loss.
The CCI program will convert a vacant lot one block off the downtown business district into a “greenspace for the communitywhere The Arc clients and others from Meadville can safely gather and form natural relationships through collaborative participation in the arts, culture and community events.” The proposed program not only includes the design of the space with community engagement, but also the programming of the space over the 4 years of the grant program, with the goal of designing sustainable programming in the future. The program checks several boxes in the My Meadville plan (directly or indirectly) including spotlighting community cleanup efforts, be inclusive, create a local brand, host a local fair, increase public benches, trash cans and pet waste stations, and supporting the small town vibe of Meadville.
Preliminary work on the design for this open space include two major items. Mill Run is a small stream that flows through the downtown. Over the years, growth in the community required building over the stream, which is visible today in a few locations throughout the city. Project partners including the City of Meadville, hope to “daylight” a portion that runs through the site to create an attractive and historic water feature. Adjacent to the site is a three-story residential building owned by the Crawford County Coalition for Housing Needs (CCCHN) with a completely blank wall that is screaming for a community mural. CCCHN asked Geffen to develop a mural which has been incorporated into the CCI program.
Corresponding with the design of the site, will be planning for what will happen there. Meadville has not been a slouch when it comes to community events. Second Saturdays are similar to First Fridays held on many Main Streets. Thankful Thursdays are held to encourage people to do things for people in the community who need assistance. Food for Thought is a community garden group. Also involved are the Arts Council and Independent Business Alliance. As plans for activation of the site are developed, the designers will be in a position to design features for power, water and sanitary sewer needs that will be a key to success of the site.
The Arc’s vision of incorporating their clients with intellectual disabilities into the programming of the site assures that these community members will not be overlooked. Many of their clients can be engaged in activities in a variety of ways depending on their individual capacities. They, like all members of the community, are invited to an attractive open space, free of physical barriers, but designed to be welcoming to all who wish to join their fellow residents for arts, culture and social engagement.
Like so many successful Pennsylvania communities, Meadville is moving on, creating a desirable community for residents and future residents. The community is leveraging the great assets that it has. Pennsylvania is fortunate to have about 40 colleges and universities in rural counties, including several colleges in the state system. Allegheny College is part of the fabric of Meadville, where it supported the efforts of Geffen and others as they have worked with the community as it navigates an evolving economic and demographic reality.
Meadville is blessed with having both large and small manufacturing companies remaining in the community. In spite of some losses, manufacturing remains the leading source of personal income for county residents who are employed – much higher than the national average. Business support for community causes is a source of strength.
Meadville is fortunate to have residents who have stayed after businesses in which they were engaged have departed. Some of these residents are former owners or executives of successful businesses. These families support the charities and community initiatives that are essential to the community’s success. A recent study for the Center for Rural Pennsylvaniaestimates that in 2015 the combined wealth of Crawford County residents was about $14 Billion, and that between 2016 and 2025 $1.39 Billion would be transferred (a polite term for assets in estates of people who die). The study was done to encourage leadership throughout the state to consider working with residents to leave some of their wealth to continue to work for the community either through private trusts or community foundations. As someone who worked for a non-profit in Bethlehem, PA as we attempted to adjust to our post-industrial new normal, I can tell you that one of the most distressing facts we had to face was that with all of the wealth that was created by the Bethlehem Steel Corporation, there was not one foundation or trust of any substance created from all that wealth to benefit community development. Other Pennsylvania communities, large and small, have been blessed with thoughtful long-term gifts.
The PCA’s CCI program is designed to invest in a promising community development program and to encourage at least 3-4 times the grant amount. In the case of this program, The Arc has already invested in purchase the site, and AE&I has invested in conceptual designs. Others have supported the application and expressed interest in participating. Over the four years of the grant, the program will cost well in excess of $400,000. Leveraging the grant for a program of this significance demonstrates the level of commitment in Meadville. It is clear that this program is not the first investment in Meadville since the dramatic loss of its major employer, but an investment in a continuum of community improvement that began twenty years ago and continues to move a collaborative community forward. It is exciting that the PCA is a part of the community’s progress.