Out of the Box Thinking Will Keep Grand Rapids Thriving (Opinion)

(Opinion)

A wedding inside Grand Rapids Town Hall? What a great idea!

It’s not often I write on behalf of my own opinion but since launching Towpath Radio I’ve been able to gain a new perspective on our wonderful village along the Maumee River.

Recently, I got married inside Grand Rapids Town Hall! Yes, the town hall that sits along the canal on the west side of town. I’m not going to pretend I’ve lived in Grand Rapids all my life, but I have visited all my life, and when I moved back to the area in 2016 I purchased my home from Mary Jeffers. I never met Mary, but I’ve come to understand that Mary and Harry were well-known in the village. Just last week my dog got out of the gate, and as I was chasing her down Second Street one of my amazing neighbors, whom I’ve never met, caught the dog and introduced herself and asked where I lived. Still shaking from the adrenaline of almost seeing my Millie get hit, I froze and said, “Harry and Mary’s house.” That’s all I needed to say.

So, those who know the house, know that it sits directly across from Town Hall. In my few years of living here, I’ve never seen a wedding take place at Town Hall. I assumed it wasn’t available for such an event until we approached the village, who was more than happy to take the rental fee!

This was my first time in this historic structure that I look at every day from my front window.

The inside of our Town Hall is beautiful, though it has obvious wear and tear that must be addressed. Peeling paint on the walls, and incredibly unappealing checkered curtains on the windows of the auditorium, to name a few. Other than that, it was the perfect wedding venue and held our guests comfortably. Not only that, but they couldn’t stop talking about it!

We chose to have our reception north of the river, but our wedding party and out-of-town guests kept some money flowing in the village.

Our wedding party rented out every available room in Grand Rapids between the Kerr House and the Mill House. They visited the bars and restaurants after the rehearsal dinner, which was held in the Old Fire Station. Many of them stopped into Miss Lilly’s for breakfast, walked the towpath, got coffee at Way Makers, and supported our other shops throughout the weekend. We even got some loud congrats during our photo sessions along the towpath from community members. What a great way to show off our town to our guests, support the local economy, and make a lasting memory right here in “small town” USA.

I’m not writing this to criticize ANY of the local leaders; they have done an amazing job at keeping Grand Rapids alive through the past few years that have been a struggle. Our chamber and various nonprofits are doing the important work that keeps our village fun, exciting, and safe. Rather, this is a call for all of our organizations and government officials to come together to develop a new way of thinking. It’s a call for our older generation of leaders to support an emerging generation of villagers who can take Grand Rapids into the future as we see our older business owners, the one’s to whom we owe our prosperity, retire.

This is a plea that to survive as a small town we must market our town to events like this. We need to adapt our way of thinking and get out of the box so that the formula that has allowed us to strive can adjust to the changing moment. We have to do things we’ve never done before. There is a stuffiness that can sometimes comes from a way of doing things that can feel outdated, and we observed this at a few moments as our wedding weekend progressed. This needs to be addressed. The next generation of villagers needs to be welcomed in. We need to embrace visitors with open arms, since they hold the key to keeping this town alive.

Our Town Hall is a multi-use facility. We can do plays, concerts, comedy shows, presentations, and even weddings. People need to know that our Town Hall and, indeed, our village are open for business in new and exciting ways. The time of talking about it has passed, and now is the time to make it happen. I would imagine just a handful of weddings a year would raise enough money to repaint the walls and not depend on community donations to keep a government-owned building relevant.

It was a wonderful weekend, and we were excited to share it with not only our guests but our town as well.

Click here for information about renting Town Hall.

Josh David
President, NWO Community Media
Program Director, Towpath Radio