In the five years since the Museums of Historic Hopkinsville-Christian County started its monthly History on Tap gatherings, I don’t believe I’ve heard a more newsworthy topic than the one that emerged Thursday night at the brewery.
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The program was billed as one about historic preservation. And it was for nearly an hour as four speakers — conservationist Grace Abernethy, historic district resident Jeri Richardson, Downtown Renaissance director Holly Boggess and museum director Alissa Keller — covered several topics about the importance of historic sites. But talk of treasured, old places in Hopkinsville eventually shifted into a free-flowing discussion of vagrancy and the seemingly large transient population in the downtown district.
“I’ve spent my entire professional life within three blocks [downtown],” said Planters Bank CEO Elizabeth McCoy, who moved to Hopkinsville as a young accountant in 1984. “I’ve seen everything happen since I’ve been here … the good, the not too good, the bad …”
McCoy, who also lives downtown, said she’s asked city officials to not wait “until something horrible happens” before they address the problem of vagrancy — and she encouraged the three dozen people present for History on Tap to get involved and demand some action.
Keller, who works and puts on programming in the heart of downtown, agreed that the area has changed a lot in just three years.
I’ve also seen it. Anyone who works downtown or drives through the area observes people panhandling at Ninth and Main streets, and at Seventh and Virginia streets, under city signs that discourage that very thing.
From my office on Main Street near the courthouse, I hear people almost every day shouting and cursing as they walk past my building. It’s hard to tell if they are simply angry or if they are in a psychotic state. I’ve also seen many people in all kinds of weather conditions hauling suitcases and backpacks who look like they just need a place to rest or maybe catch a break.
Last summer during an Aug. 8 celebration on Ninth Street, a man disheveled and clearly disoriented was dozing on the front porch of the Pennyroyal Area Museum as dozens of people walked in and out of the building. He eventually stumbled down the steps to the sidewalk, struggled to put on his shoes and walked away. It was a scene many of us have come to expect downtown. I don’t believe there was a person present that day who knew how to help or deal with the man — beyond hoping he didn’t fall and hurt himself or someone else.
As the discussion continued Thursday evening at the brewery, Boggess told the group that the city has hired a consultant — Randall Gross, of Nashville — to look at “all aspects” of homelessness in the city and to seek some cooperation among several groups, including residents, business owners, government offices and social service agencies. He’ll start his work this summer. Gross was a sub-consultant on another project downtown a few years ago.
Boggess, whose work deals with city financial incentives for downtown property owners, acknowledged a need to view homelessness with some compassion.
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“But this situation also needs to be looked at through a lens of common sense and commerce so that the businesses and the residents who have invested hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars can have their investments protected,” she said.
“This will be a very raw conversation about how do we ensure that individuals who are released from jail don’t just start walking in the downtown area and make the Farmers Market Pavilion their place of residence … And how do we ensure that the folks from Western State Hospital are connected with family members instead of just being dropped off downtown.”
As Thursday’s gathering wrapped up, Keller wondered aloud if an advocacy group had just been created. I wondered the same thing.
Stay tuned. Hoptown Chronicle will have more to report on vagrancy and homelessness in downtown and other areas of the community.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. She spent 30 years as a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition.
