Boomtown
A few years ago, Dundee was not so much a town as a potential “stop” for the many drivers zipping along US23 – a place to fill up with gas and/or fast food when necessary, a place to ignore otherwise.
A handful of the curious, or those who got lost trying to find the McDonald’s, sometimes stumbled upon the historic downtown, with its unique Triangle Park. Some admired the faded Italianate architecture through their windshields but, seeing nothing tempting in drab storefronts, drove on. Some would comment on the shame of it all, these little towns dying for lack of employment, shopping, things to keep the young ones down in the village after they’d seen Ann Arbor or Toledo or (even!) Detroit. Few remembered their accidental visit to Dundee, or thought to comment on it to friends and relatives.
Dundee’s easy-off, easy-on freeway exit was all that came to mind when most travelers heard the name.
Now, the “handful of the curious” numbers in the millions. They come from everywhere to be in Dundee. Throughout Michigan the phrase “I’m from Dundee” evokes a smile of recognition from nearly all. Then, typically, comes a remark along these lines: “I hear you guys are really booming.”
Yes, actually, we are booming. Beautifully restored historic buildings housing interesting dining and shopping experiences. Big new hotels and restaurants on one edge of town. A “New Urbanist” subdivision under development on the other edge, with a variety of additional new housing about to sprout both from farm fields and downtown. A muscular industrial park attracting worldwide attention. A beautiful new high school under construction. A new water supply system bringing ample water in from Lake Erie. Plans underway for expansion of the sewage disposal system. Many new streets and sidewalks, including an extra wide walk connecting downtown with the nation’s largest outdoor outfitting store, a building only slightly larger than the artificial mountain it contains. Last year, in this village of 3,500, more than 3 million persons gazed up at that mountain.
And quite of few of these millions wondered: “Why Dundee? Why did Dundee suddenly go from no place to “the place.’”
Like most success stories, this one has many fathers (and mothers.) What those blasting by on the freeway years ago didn’t see was the spirit of the people. Quiet, unassuming people, with all the small town virtues so mythologized in America, these people also had a vision. Call it a “build it and they will come” vision, if you will, or simply call it a wish to make their little town a better place in which to live.
Mostly they focused on their downtown and the area along the river. They had the area declared an historic district. They scrapped together the money to put in streetscapes and a stunning river walk. The city fathers (and mothers) worked to attract more and better retail downtown, and more and better employment opportunities elsewhere in the village.
And they jealously guarded their border. They knew development was inevitable on the farmland just outside the village limits. They knew they had to control that development or it would strangle them, so they brought the land inside the village limits. The village even purchased some of the land, so determined was it to control what happened there.
In the late 1990’s, the effort started to pay off. Two significant retailers – Swan Creek Candle Co. and Tiffany’s Pizza – located downtown. More activity stirred in the industrial park. Momentum was building.
Then, in March of 1999, Cabela’s announced that it would construct the nation’s largest outdoor outfitting store here in Dundee. The rest, as they say, is history.
By the time Cabela’s opened in autumn of 2000, a host of national firms had announced plans to come to Dundee, or had already begun to build. More are on the way.
These have been exciting times in Dundee but, as “they” also say: The more things change the more they stay the same. We are still a small town, with small town values. We are still determined visionaries, still working hard to insure that Dundee – for all its booming – remains a quaint, quiet, wonderful place to settle down and raise a family.
And we are still succeeding!
