Everyone is trying to be positive and hopeful...yet we all know, the unknown can indeed be scary, so please do not try to invalidate such citizen/resident feelings...instead, understand them....Anyway much like the residents, the newspapers this week are in "An Ardmore State of Mind"....we're hoping as everything moves forward the ghosts of commissioners past don't come back to haunt us and that what ends up being Ardmore's plan encompasses a true community vision and isn't that all true? After all, can it be said that long after new commissioners are seated in familiar chairs and the chosen developer has completed his job, it will be the citizen of Ardmore and Lower Merion who are left?

And Tom Murray, we are indeed practicing a rousing rendition of "Kumbaya" to be sung at your office door with full chorus and delicate harmonies...ha ha ha ha....(sorry, we couldn't resist)

Ardmore’s future in Lipkin’s hands
Board picks EBL&S Development as its choice to lead revitalization of the downtown
By Cheryl Allison

In Lower Merion, Jan. 10, 2008, was a date for the history books for two reasons. First, the board of commissioners named its choice of a development team to design and construct the long-awaited new Ardmore Transit Center and lead the long-debated revitalization of the downtown business district.

That developer is EBL&S Development of Philadelphia, headed by Gladwyne resident Edward B. Lipkin. His team, including leading architectural, engineering and other consultants, captured the imagination of a majority of board members with its proposal to build a new transit center and hotel building with a glass-enclosed public atrium connecting the Lancaster Avenue business district with Suburban Square over the railroad tracks.

Second, the decision came as business and community groups, once bitterly at odds over an earlier township plan that raised the specter of eminent domain, stood together to announce a common vision for their town.

Leaders of the Save Ardmore Coalition, the Ardmore Initiative business authority, the Ardmore Business Association and First Friday Main Line took turns reading the statement.

A job well done in Lower Merion
By Tom Murray

It looks like I owe an apology to some people in Lower Merion.

A few months back when the township was in the process of deciding the fate of Ardmore and its business district, I wondered in an editorial if the different groups and associations could get along.

I warned of an upcoming fight as township officials decided what direction was best for Ardmore, and to some I came across as very skeptical that the different groups would get along....The ink in that week's edition wasn't even dry when I opened my e-mail on a Wednesday night and was told by one of the civic association leaders that I was wrong.

A few days later, a letter to the editor arrived on my desk that started: "Shame on you Tom Murray." I knew right away that I wasn't being invited to lunch.

So far, it looks like they were correct.....Also at last week's meeting, representatives of the Save Ardmore Coalition, the Ardmore Initiative business authority, the Ardmore Business Association and First Friday Main Line read a joint statement of a vision for Ardmore's future.

While they didn't endorse one particular plan or developer, they let it be known that they were willing to work together and hopefully everyone will be happy when the project is complete.

(In an effort to be completely fair, there is no truth to the report that all the groups held hands and sang "Kumbaya" on the steps of the township building. Sorry, I couldn't resist.)

Proud to be part of Ardmore’s Renaissance
By Mike Silver

Thursday, January 10, 2008, was an important day in Ardmore's history, when seven of our township commissioners voted to embrace Ed Lipkin's vision of its future. While the decision was not a unanimous one, the commissioners and the township staff made the process transparent and participatory for all to review and comment upon. As I see it, this was an honest, democratic process from which Ed Lipkin's plan emerged successfully. As responsible members of this community, our job during the selection process was to evaluate the competing plans as carefully as possible, question the developers, and make our opinions known. Now that the selection has been made, we need to continue to provide our input and direction to the township and support the board's decision.While some have expressed a concern that the plan is too ambitious, and that the scope could have a debilitating effect on traffic, I offer this thought. The plan will now undergo review by both the Ad Hoc Committee set up by the township, which has representatives from all the local community groups, as well as the commissioners, before a contract is finalized. Once the contract is obtained, construction plans will be prepared and then reviewed in detail for environmental, traffic and building code issues. Anyone familiar with our township will know that this will be neither a brief nor cursory review. Rather it will take much time, and again will be vetted with input from many sources. The build will likely span five to eight years, as the review process, (just to get Septa and Amtrak on board as a major portion of the construction will occur over their railroad tracks), will be lengthy. And since this process will take so long, development will be completed in several phases. Accordingly, market forces will come into play and only units that can be successfully marketed will be developed. We hope that Mr. Lipkin will begin marshalling his considerable resources and talents immediately, even before construction begins, to ensure the continued survival of the current Business District.

A new day dawns in Ardmore with choice of development team By Mike Weilbacher

What a difference a year - or three - makes.Last week, in the most significant decision in Lower Merion in a very long time (and the one that will likely form the lasting legacy of this Board of Commissioners), our elected officials at long last selected a development team to begin the crucial project of revitalizing downtown Ardmore. The winner in a landslide vote was Ed Lipkin, Lower Merion resident and principal of EBL&S, whose proposal includes a movie theater on the Lancaster Avenue lot near the Bella Italia pizza parlor, mixed-use retail and condos on Cricket Avenue and retail shopping above the train tracks in a new building that physically bridges the gap between Lancaster Avenue and Oz, the emerald city of Suburban Square.

This is the end of at least four years of very contentious community conversations, and the beginning of an entirely new day in Ardmore. So congratulations and kudos go out ...

The process of choosing a development team By Nancy Gold

On Thursday, Jan. 10, the Ardmore community came together to witness and participate in the shaping of a historical evening. After years of acrimony, the stage had finally been set to announce the developer who would be charged with the stew-ardship of Ardmore's future. After a process that divided our town, Ardmore's stakeholders surprisingly made a monumental decision to put their differences aside.The Ardmore Initiative, The Ardmore Business Association, The Save Ardmore Coalition and First Friday Main Line issued a joint statement that was read, in part, by a representative from each group. Much time was given to help shape this important document. Of the four developers, any three of them were considered to be a good match, and this joint vision statement reflected those wishes. The BoC chose outside this box.

This editorial is not meant to disparage the team chosen, but rather to reflect on the process by which it evolved. As I listened to those who offered the reasons why they did or didn't support the eventual winner, I was aware that the issues that were questioned had great validity, yet they were not included or addressed during the final decision making process, and some of the reasons for choosing this team were not part of our original reasons for pressing for a revitalization plan.

The miracle of the evening was the coming together of these unique groups

Breathing new life into an old friend By Susan Greenspon

On my frequent walks through downtown Ardmore, I can't help but be reminded of the Scotch Boutique skits on Saturday Night Live. The 1970s recession-era sketches starred Dan Aykroyd and Gilda Radner as plaid-wearing workers of a store that stocked nothing but Scotch tape in a mall where all the businesses were slowly dying.The skits were absurdly funny some 30 years ago, but in 2008, stores empty of customers or just plain empty are no laughing matter.

For those of us who've lived in Ardmore long enough - when a walk down the Pike meant shopping at Spritzler's, Ardmore Army/Navy, Woolworth's and Harrison's, and a night out meant a film at the Ardmore Theater or dancing at 23 East - the slow decline of our downtown from bustling to ghostly has been as pathetic as those SNL characters clinging to hope in a Scotch tape shop.

We, too, have had high hopes for the independent retailers who've moved into spaces vacated by family-owned stores. And we've been crushed by their exits when lack of foot traffic could no longer sustain them.