Two proposals for new businesses in Baker City deserve examination. While I live in unincorporated Baker County, Baker City is where I do business and enjoy the things a town offers. I also enjoy the sense of connection and continuity I feel downtown, old buildings being used by businesses that have changed over time while maintaining some sense of a good old fashioned downtown.

There are proposals to build a Taco Bell on a lot on Campbell Street, and to tear down an old building on Main Street and replace it with a modern, corporate convenience store. I have two objections to these proposals. First, corporate clone businesses have been creeping westward on Campbell Street for years, it is time to limit this westward corporate creep and turn it around. Second, a modern corporate convenience store at the proposed location would be an insult to the progress which I have seen on Main Street over the years restoring buildings and opening businesses downtown. There is also the fact that for many travelers on I84 Baker City is precisely a get gas and grab a bite stop. This is no insult to us, as people do have places to go andtimes to get there.

I propose an idea which might conveniently serve both travelers and local people who simply want a tank of gas or a quick munch, while preserving the good old timey feel of Main Street. Build a Corporate Clone Plastic Park on the east side of the freeway. Make it big enough to offer some choices in fast service, and offer corporate clone businesses financial incentive to open their shops there. Let it be garish and visible from the freeway, and make access convenient — and be sure to let the travelers who make a quick stop know that Baker City also has a good old fashioned downtown close by.

Buck Pilkenton

McEwen