The following appeared in the January/February 2024 issue of The Lenawee Voice.

The building of a new workforce development center on East Church Street is good news for Adrian and Lenawee County. But it’s also welcome news because of something else that it represents: a focus on the well-being of Adrian’s east side, a district that has too often not been in the forefront of discussions about the city’s future.

The gradual shift in Adrian’s center of gravity away from the east side can be seen in the history of our elementary schools. Fifty years ago, five out of the Adrian school district’s eight neighborhood elementary schools were located east of Main Street. Now there’s only one, while all three of the west side elementaries that existed in 1974 are still open.

We highlight that fact not to pick on the school district — no single person or entity bears sole responsibility for this pattern of disinvestment over many years — but because it’s one of the more easily identifiable symptoms of something much larger.

The decision to build the Align Center for Workforce Development right across from Monument Park is a good move, and we hope it will turn out to represent a renewed focus on East Adrian by leaders in both the public and private sectors.

Here’s just one example: When discussing ways to make the planned Downtown Adrian Riverfront development feel more connected to downtown, the city should make sure that any traffic changes involved in that effort don’t have the effect of cutting downtown off the residential neighborhoods to the east. We’re glad that Mayor Angie Sword Heath took note of this concern when we discussed Winter Street streetscape plans with her for the last issue of this newspaper.

We’re also glad to note that City Hall stood up for east side residents by taking legal action against air pollution from the egg processing plant on East Maumee. 

The neighborhoods on Adrian’s east side are an important part of our community fabric. Let’s keep a strong focus and not let up.