Newburyport’s ‘Reflecting Pool?’

The Townie is an opinion website. The views expressed in this piece belong solely to the author, do not represent those held by The Townie, and should not be interpreted as objective or reported fact.

As an historian and writer, I like to visit places that are atmospheric enough to rekindle in my head what life was like at various periods in our collective past. One of my more recent books concerned World War I, the largest industrial-scale conflict ever fought, from 1914-1918, and I find it ironic that driving around Newburyport reminds me of some of the more horrific battles that I described in my narrative.

Federal Street might as well be the trench system in Verdun after heavy shelling, viz. potholes the size of tanks (an exaggeration, but you get my point). Likewise, rolling about from plunging gyrations in the pavement bring to mind the sea battle of Jutland (luckily, I don’t get seasick). Dodging manhole covers on High Street two inches below the road surface is reminiscent of the allied fleet trying to evade mines in the Dardanelles Straits: mess up, and you get a shot up your spine. Promises from the city that the more seriously corroded of our streets will be restored in the near future, remind me of British General Douglas Haig saying to various prime ministers who were cringing from the destruction of his fruitless offenses, “just be patient, the next battle will turn the tide.”

Which leads me to the Bartlet Mall.

Here’s a prediction that I hope will not come true, but think will. The $3.5 million plus bond just authorized by the City Council to fund a restoration of the pond will prove to be a debacle. All the blather I’ve been hearing about what a health hazard the water situation there presents is total BS (unless, of course, you drink some of it or go swimming there).

The “expert” opinions of the super technological team of “geotechnicians, environmental and civil engineers, water quality specialists” etc. etc., who have come up with this super expensive remedial plan … haven’t we learned enough from the past to take their blather with a grain of salt? I am not a luddite, but over the years I have become distrustful of know-it-all projections that this problem or that problem is actually no problem at all, i.e. just pay us and we will fix it. History has far too many expensive examples of consistent failures along these lines to ignore.

Does any of this remind you of the reflecting pool fiasco in Washington? Lots of experts bloviating about that.

Meanwhile, the roads in our city remain a thorough-going disgrace, and their repairs, while not rocket science like the Bartlet Mall project, proceed at a glacial pace. To say nothing of some heavy duty, and far more important, infrastructure upgrades that the city is just plain ignoring, as unglamorous as they sound.

If you think I’m kidding, click on this link in the July 1 edition of the Globe, on the recent sewer line break in Haverhill. About halfway into this piece there is an absolutely devastating analysis of what communities such as ours will be facing in the next decade or so on infrastructure projects that we will no longer be able to punt down the road. If you think the final bill will be ameliorated by federal and state monies, the answer is yes, but not as much as you’d hope. Get set to open your wallets, big time.

Would $3.5 million make a dent in any of this? You be the judge.

$3.5 million is more than just pocket change, in my opinion. The City Council was fiscally derelict in approving this scheme, especially when serious and less expensive approaches were proposed and airily dismissed.

I have to go now. My old truck, which I drive around town,  needs new shock absorbers.

James Charles Roy
Newburyport resident
Roy’s new book, ‘One Man and His Boat: A Tale from Nova Scotia,’ has just been released. Copies are available at Jabberwocky Bookstore.

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