The way Berea is supposed to be

Who’d have thought that after all that talk about renewing Berea’s downtown section that it would actually happen. And it’s happening in an interesting way – part government initiative and part private enterprise.

First, there’s the park at the corner of Chestnut and Boone Street. For a while it was looking like the city’s plans to purchase that property, which was the site of an old gas station, would never come to fruition. Now some rather attractive plans are on the drawing board to make it one of the most attractive sites in the city of Berea.

Just up the street is a new coffee shop/bistro – the Coffee Conspiracy, which was forged with the initiative of two local business people, Jim and Susan Thomason. Opening a new business may not be anything new, but it’s how they did it that’s exciting. They didn’t scout out the best vacant lot, then construct a new building. Instead, the Thomasons decided to open their business in the downtown area, which has been in need of a facelift for some time. Before we knew it, a decaying storefront was replaced with one of the most attractive and inviting businesses in town.

But there’s still another twist, which I think is quintessentially Berean, or at least it should be. The Coffee Conspiracy is adorned with arts and crafts from local artisans, whether it’s pottery, paintings, photography or fiber work – much of which is available for sale. Even the coffee mugs, which were crafted by potter Teresa Cole, are for sale. That struck me as being pretty remarkable – a business that does its part to promote the work of artisans in the community, but is also playing a role to uplift what was a sagging part of town.

I attribute the success of Berea’s park venture and the Thomason’s efforts to their ability to ask one simple but important question: Why not? When you think about it, those two words are leading to some exciting developments in Berea, and not just the big projects like the Artisan Center at Berea. Berea’s A Show of Hands project is gaining state-wide attention, and most recently, long-time Berea resident Jane Stephenson was recently featured on the Oprah Winfrey show for her work in founding the New Opportunity School for Women. Both projects began as just an idea, yet both uplifted the community in their own ways.

Maybe that can-do spirit is a legacy of John G. Fee, who went against the conventions of the day to ask the same question when it came to interracial education: why not? Somehow, I think Fee would be proud of what’s happening in Berea today.

written by Andy McDonald,
BereaOnline.com Contributing Editor