A few updates:
Hadley's Great Meadow and the Route 47 Scenic Byway (together encompassing the part of the "cultural landscape" included on the WMF Watch) have received some good coverage recently due to their inclusion on the Watch.
Aside from the front-page story in the Daily Hampshire Gazette, a photo of Hadley made it onto a slideshow on BBC News's homepage (which, incidentally, was the #2 most read story at one point!). It was also included in National Geographic! Thousands and thousands more people around the world now know about Hadley.
Let's hope the attention continues to focus on Hadley so that more and more people in the US and abroad recognize the importance of saving the Great Meadow and the rest of the cultural landscape!
Showing posts with label Great Meadow. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Great Meadow. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
Hadley included on 2010 World Monuments Watch List
The "Cultural Landscape" of Hadley has been included on the World Monuments Fund's 2010 Watch list of endangered heritage sites. I work for WMF, so I was doubly pleased to see this place where I grew up selected by the independent panel of heritage and conservation experts for inclusion on the 2010 list. I can't speak on behalf of WMF (I am not an expert and not in the programs department), but I can add my two cents as a former local and someone interested in cultural landscapes.
It is hoped that Watch-listing will draw more attention to the cause of conservation and sustainability in this town. A focus on a national and international (the BBC included a shot of Hadley in this slideshow on its homepage!) level is what is needed to show that this landscape really is important. Preserving the Great Meadow, the land along the Route 47 "Scenic Byway" and other areas have long been local issues--that is not disputed. But giving the site such broader recognition and attention is certainly a much-needed boost for the cause. Foundations for buildings might not be being dug in the Great Meadow as we speak, but as long as a huge swathe of it is zoned residential and commercial, the land is under threat. What a great opportunity this is to secure the Great Meadow once and for all and to work towards saving land along Route 47 as well. Cultural landscapes are integral aspects of heritage.
More to come, I'm sure.
It is hoped that Watch-listing will draw more attention to the cause of conservation and sustainability in this town. A focus on a national and international (the BBC included a shot of Hadley in this slideshow on its homepage!) level is what is needed to show that this landscape really is important. Preserving the Great Meadow, the land along the Route 47 "Scenic Byway" and other areas have long been local issues--that is not disputed. But giving the site such broader recognition and attention is certainly a much-needed boost for the cause. Foundations for buildings might not be being dug in the Great Meadow as we speak, but as long as a huge swathe of it is zoned residential and commercial, the land is under threat. What a great opportunity this is to secure the Great Meadow once and for all and to work towards saving land along Route 47 as well. Cultural landscapes are integral aspects of heritage.
More to come, I'm sure.
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