Waynesburg University’s demolition derby
The word on the street is that the Peoples Bank building in downtown Waynesburg will be demolished soon by Waynesburg University.
One can only wonder if this will be the end of the destruction of the buildings on the north side of Main Street by the university.
One could argue that the destruction commenced with the purchase of several businesses and structures beside the First National Bank building.
Economic destruction continued when the university started selling Starbucks coffee on campus in direct competition with the downtown coffee shop. Now, we have no coffee shop downtown.
When the Peoples Bank building comes down, Waynesburg’s downtown will lose its most significant piece of historical architecture and best chance to add downtown housing, consumer demand and future viability. The night the university unveiled its vision of downtown Waynesburg, which was labeled a “gift to Waynesburg,” the designers noted that Waynesburg’s narrow train trestle, currently being expanded to four lanes, protected the historical buildings of downtown Waynesburg from demolition by the big-box commercial industry. It is ironic that the replacement of the two-lane train trestle comes at the same time that the destruction of downtown Waynesburg continues at the hands of the university. Not to worry, though, as the demolition of our architectural gems will not be at the hands of big-box stores. They will shy away from a ghost town.
One can only wonder what is next in the sights of the university. Six months ago, I asked Douglas Lee, the university’s president, about joining in on a comprehensive plan to provide increased parking for the university and downtown merchants, expanded traffic lanes on Main Street and increased housing for middle-class elderly residents, and I was told that the Peoples Bank building had to go. The next time we hear the university brag about its position in world of education, we should try to remember its utter disdain for the European approach to sustaining architecturally beautiful structures by restoring them, not demolishing them. With demolition, our town’s history and culture are gone, only to be replaced with an unobstructed view of the university’s campus from Main Street.
David Pollock
Waynesburg