The new Levitt Pavilion /Photo: Greenburbs.com
Now — there is no longer a bulletin board downtown. We need a new one and it should go in a little kiosk at Jesup Green. A town center without a bulletin board is like MTV without the music. The students over at Toquet Hall and Remy Chevalier brought this to my attention during the unveiling of Miggs’ alley Tunnel Vision install at the Art About Town opening night party, (major props to Miggs B for a great job).
Back in 1974, when the Levitt Pavilion band shell opened for the first time, I was 7 years old. I can remember the opening season and the buzz all over town about the cultural significance of having such a performance venue in the heart of town. It was like having our own mini Woodstock.
There was a dream then, an optimism about the future. The hippies felt as if they had won the culture war. Music and free love were bringing people closer together. As a 7 year old you pic up on the mood of the people around you, and I can tell you that that opening season at the Levitt was like a science fiction movie; where the children of God arrive in droves to clamber up the hill, where the library now stands; the lights and the music wafting out over the river, reverberating throughout the whole of downtown attracting the souls and imaginations of everyone.
The music was much louder, much much much louder. But there was something spiritual about everybody making there way out to the Levitt. There was no library parking lot then, it was a sort of no-man’s land in between Jesup Green and the Levitt. I won’t go into the detailed description now, however you couldn’t just hop out of your car and be at the Levitt – you had to walk – a journey along the riverside. There was no walking bridge from the Imperial Avenue lot either.
You know how they say “50 Nights of Free Entertainment” when they talk about the pavilion. Well that is the left over spirit from those days when free meant that we weren’t selling out. That’s just how Westport was back in those days. It was like the bus stop. There were all kinds of comfortable benches with roofs to keep the rain and snow off. Jesup Green functioned as the town hub for efficient public transportation. That was the dream, people coming together for free transportation, (for a small yearly fee).
Back in the 70′s the town had this thing with the Baron, the Baron whose house and property looked out over the town center. Westport officials were always afraid that the Baron was going to develop his property. The town went as far as to offer money for it but the Baron refused. Westport had just defined it’s downtown area as the BCD. They were especially concerned that the Baron’s Land didn’t go commercial. They had wanted to buy his land so that it would remain open space, that was the very specific reason in place for decades. Not like some who have recently stated that it was bought for no reason at all while explaining the latest deal with the developer for low income senior housing apartments. When initially the town approved a plan for 60% low income units and now they are cutting a deal for only 20% of those units to be for seniors who don’t have as much money. I however don’t see that if we bought it for “no reason at all” how that somehow excuses this new plan from providing low income housing. The fact remains that the town bought the property to keep it from being developed and now we are developing it whether or not we are providing for only 20%. Basically the Baron’s Land is going to rich seniors. This kind of makes my heart sick when I think of all the people who have been forced out of Westport because they can’t afford it, but only has to do with the bulletin board in tone, of how the culture has changed.
Back then it really was a downtown area now it’s more like a mall. Every store was a mom and pop, there might have been a few exceptions like Gristedes or Ann Taylor. Drew Friedman built the alley way in accordance with the state law that insisted that there be an access way to the parking lot. Remy Chevalier insisted that a bulletin board be put up and Drew did so.