Published: February 06, 2008 12:00 am            

STEPHANIE SALTER: We have a Point to make: 12 is still one great number

TERRE HAUTE — It would be neat to report that there were 12 of us sitting in the pneumatic barber chairs of Medusa’s hair salon, plotting the fate of 12 Points. People who care about the historic old neighborhood — its thriving past and what we believe can be its vibrant future — are seriously into the number 12.

But the truth is, 15 of us plus our City Council representative gathered in Medusa’s on Monday night. Seeing as we need all the enthusiastic commitment we can get, we’ll make an exception to the 12 thing when it comes to attendance at planning meetings.

Over the decades, I have been to my share of neighborhood sessions in big cities and small. I have seen projects and programs created and nurtured, and I have seen them die from lack of solid preparation or follow-through.

I’m a newcomer to this group, but something is happening in 12 Points that makes my skin tingle with experienced hope.

Yes, I have eyes. I can walk south along Lafayette Avenue through the tree streets (Linden, Buckeye, Ash, Beech) and see a commercial corridor that seems to be on life support. I can count more plywood and long-locked doors than warmly lit shops and eateries.

Yes, I read the papers. I know Terre Haute is not exactly celebrating flush times and that a national recession is as good as here. I can hear all sorts of folks warning, “This is no time to try to resurrect a neighborhood.”

But I see the faces of the 15 people who gathered Monday night. I see Neil Garrison, who watches 12 Points’ back on the City Council. There isn’t a naive, pie-in-the-sky soul in the bunch. We’ve all been to our share of meetings and planning sessions.

These people aren’t fired up, they are steely, determined, dug in. I would not bet against them for one minute.

Our official name is the 12 Points Greater Northside Association. To say you will be hearing more from us over the coming months is like saying Union Hospital is doing a little remodeling eight blocks to the southwest.

Our name is like a lot of the elements of the group’s vision, strongly rooted in the past and nicely constructed for a modern future.

Harry Truman was president when the 12 Points Association was founded in 1951. Sometime in the early 1970s, after Garfield High School was closed and West’s Drugstore became a Joni Mitchell song lyric — “Pave paradise and put up a parking lot” — the Greater Northside part was added.

The district has contracted ever since as businesses, restaurants and medical and legal professionals moved out. Some relocated in the south or east end of town, some just called it quits.

But affection for 12 Points is a funny thing; once you’ve got it, it doesn’t go away. As too many merchants can tell you, first-hand, even fire can’t burn out a genuine affinity for the place.

Cecil Tilford heads that list. Fire drove him and his variety store across Lafayette Avenue and into a space not one-third the size of his previous emporium. But Mr. Tilford took the U.S. Post Office branch with him and manages to stock a little bit of almost everything so that — more often than not — you can get what you need and not leave the north end of town.

For a lot of us, Mr. Tilford is the symbol of 12 Points: Still here, despite all the odds and premature obituaries. And he’s not merely here, he’s functional and useful, a survivor nonpareil.

On Aug. 1, Mr. Tilford will mark his 40th anniversary as a merchant of 12 Points and member of the district association. If I were you, I’d circle that weekend on your calendar right now and watch for news of an appropriate pull-out-the-stops celebration.

Like the merchants who have watched their livelihood and dreams go up in smoke, yet still chose to rebuild and reopen in the same spot, the 12 Points Greater Northside Association is kicking back into gear.

A lot has changed over the past 30-some years. Ordinary citizens’ groups are learning to use the tools of the non-profit trade. We know the benefits that come with a 501(c)(3) charity tax status. We know that, recession or not, there are federal, state, local and private grants out there, along with all manner of acronymed tax incentives for businesses to move into a redeveloping district.

We’ve seen many of these financial aids make a difference in Downtown Terre Haute, and we’d like to think we’re smart and motivated enough to apply those lessons to 12 Points. That the area has official status as a national historic commercial district does not hurt the cause.

After Monday night’s meeting, I began to comprehend the possible. Whether it was Medusa’s co-owner Neil Ward thinking up catchy slogans (see box) or his partner Amy Worthington pledging to inventory every non-working streetlight in the neighborhood, I saw people with great ideas who are willing to work to make them reality.

When the subject of city-replaced sidewalks and curbs came up, immediate consensus was, if the government can’t put in all that we’ve been promised, we’ll do the rest ourselves.

In the meantime, seasonal banners will continue to be hoisted on the main Lafayette corridor lamp standards. Champions Park at Maple and Lafayette avenues and 13th Street should be dedicated and open before summer. Our fledgling newsletter (thanks to Valley Press) will continue to be mailed, a Web site is in the works, and issues such as grafitti and vacant lots will be addressed at subsequent meetings. Next one is 6 p.m. March 3 at Medusa’s, 1284 Lafayette Ave.

Rather than grow accustomed to 15 or 16 in attendance at these gatherings, I figure we can shoot for increasing multiples of 12 — 24, 36, 48 — until we outgrow Medusa’s and need all of Harmony Hall.

Stephanie Salter can be reached at (812) 231-4229 or stephanie.salter@tribstar.com.





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The 12 Points Greater Northside Association is looking for a slogan or motto that conveys the depth and importance of the neighborhood’s history as well as its potential to become a pleasurable alternative to big-store, chain-restaurant commerce. The group already has several excellent ideas, but we’d like to hear from other city residents who share our affection for 12 Points.

E-mail, phone or U.S.-mail suggestions to me at stephanie.salter@tribstar.com; (812) 231-4229 or 222 S. Seventh St., Terre Haute, IN. 47807. I’ll pass them on to the association with your name and contact info.

— Stephanie Salter

        

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