Private investment makes Brookhaven a better place
Published Sunday, June 23, 2024 at 2:46 p.m.
Many seem to question the motivation behind John Lynch’s move to sell the former Hartman-Harrigill Funeral Home to the City of Brookhaven for their city hall, and frankly, I don’t see why it matters why Lynch would do such a thing.
His work has been about renovating the bones of old, dilapidated buildings and breathing new life into them. In the process, he’s revitalized downtown Brookhaven. People should think about the progress that’s been made in the area since the pandemic hit.
When my wife was an intern at the newspaper, I walked around downtown Brookhaven on visits, staring at the empty spaces, faded signs, and sad buildings whose stories seemed to have ended.
It takes someone like John Lynch to invest in real estate, have a vision, and execute a plan to bring real estate back to life. I think a great example is the old Foster’s gas station. It used to be a convenience store, and they turned it into a nice laundry and dog wash on the corner, and it looks 10 times better.
Imagine what our communities could be like if more people got involved in transforming old ruins into something new, creating new life and new businesses. If we invested in our quality of life.
While I personally am against Brookhaven’s growth and expansion outside of our city limits, it’s great to see the positive changes in our town. Innovation, entrepreneurship, and revitalization are all great things. We should consider ourselves lucky that a town our size can support so many small town businesses. Not all communities are as lucky, and we shouldn’t take things for granted.
For every Facebook comment complaining that there isn’t a certain restaurant or “something for the kids” in town, I want to ask where your investment is. If we really need a steakhouse (Zetus already has one), why not open one? And would people here support a different kind of restaurant or complain that it’s not a chicken or Mexican restaurant?
My wife and I went on an anniversary date a few weeks ago. We ate teppanyaki at the Pearl and played a round of mini golf. The mini golf course was on a lot the size of a new Starbucks and could even fit inside the new 601 Sports store. I think it would be a big business here.
“I believe private innovation moves the world and makes Brookhaven a better place. I don’t know what motivates John Lynch or what motivates any private company executive. I can only look at their track record.”
Brookhaven runs the risk of driving away good people with our complaints. What a shame that negativity is preventing great things from coming to our town. Let’s all work together to make Brookhaven and Lincoln County a better place.
