Story from Michael

Hello..

It's been a long time since my childhood days in Greeley. Reading in the Tribune that you are seeking input regarding this neighborhood, I'd like to weigh in briefly. If I can be brief?

I attended kindergarten at the lab school at CSCE and then graduated from CSC in 1963. In 1990 I created an art project to commemorate Cranford Hall, the first building on the now UNC campus. My roots are deep.

History and tradition, from reports I've heard and read seem to be falling away from my old home town.

My recent project to encourage high school students to explore the dates between 1945 and 1968 went up in the Grace Dawson Auditorium last spring. This project is currently looking for a new home.

An early love of my life, Holly Hillway, lived with her family at 16th Street and 12th Avenue. Her dad was a professor at the college. Holly and I graduated from Greeley High in 1959.

Progress.. with the expansion of the City of Greeley (where 23rd Avenue was just about the edge of town ) to Loveland !! is a shocker. I was in the first class to be promoted from Heath to GHS in 1956.

All of this is to say, that my memories of the simple town with wide streets and churches on every corner and trees!! must find a way to be preserved.

"Progress" has a way. .in time. of caving in on itself. I was sad..years ago.. to learn of the 'mall' that went up in south Greeley, essentially starving the historic downtown that I loved.

What is the vision that folks have? Is real estate so profitable that destruction of the past is inevitable in the future to allow developers to make money?

Of course, I'm long gone now. The Greeley that I loved and grew up in is fading fast. I guess my essential input is that these old homes in the area you are doing a study for must be preserved to retain the essence of what Greeley was intended to be. A very nice town.

I've just flashed on the Number Three Ditch! A special and dangerous bike path from my house to Meeker Jr. High in the fifties. Cameron School where the GHS wrestlers worked out.. a chilly jog from the high school to that gym. Memories.

Cities are okay.. and Greeley long ago was burgeoning as a 'City.' But.. hanging on to the foundation of what Nathan Meeker and his gang had in mind, it seems to me.. may not be 'profitable'.. but, hopefully.. worth the effort.

Sincerely,

Michael Sheehan

Greeley High School 1959

Colorado State College 1963