The Compass Weekly; Tourists Are Coming

A. Forest or something. The tourists are coming. The tourists are come. Two hundred years ago it was British troops who broke the stillness of this countryside. Now as America launches her bicentennial celebration the communities of Lexington and Concord prepare for another into the tourist literally hundreds of thousands of tourists will descend upon this historical area. The bulk of them on April 19th. The 200 anniversary of the beginning of the American Revolution where along this old North Bridge and Battle Road the destiny of two nations was charted. There are some who

warn that the bicentennial and the tourists it will bring will wreak more havoc between Concord and Boston than the red coats did in 1775. The nation's bicentennial has become synonymous with visions of clogged highways jammed restaurants and hotels frustrated tourists and angry natives. The American Revolution brought America her freedom. What do you suppose the 200 anniversary of that revolution will bring us. Walking along the conquered river on a lazy end of winter day it is difficult to imagine what this serene area will be like on April 19th. One thing is certain it will not reflect the tranquillity that inspired the pens of Emerson and Thoreau. One hundred years ago on the anniversary of the revolution this peacefulness was transformed into chaos as thousands of tourists be Cambs became stranded in a late season storm some freezing and starving to death. But time has moved on

and the anniversary poses new problems. The major problem is of course the automobile. Over 40 million people live within a day's drive of Concord. Concord and Lexington will seal off their towns when they reach the 100 20000 mark. John Finnegan chairman of Concord celebration committee is confident that this is the best of what happens when you reach that hundred twenty thousand one. Well one hundred twenty five. Thousand people a box out of 20000 people are here in Congress. The town's a lot practical points of view will be closed off. We in this regard we've done two things. First we made every effort in the public health and safety point of view so that this town will be self-sufficient and able to handle and handle any major health car accident type problem fire and so forth without relying on them on our usual joint to help in towns from around the area was self-sufficient that we got. We will permit the balance of the people to move through the main corridor which separate which divides us down to two

and we will seal off all entrances coming into the center of the town by appropriate blockades. What is your greatest fear for April 19. I think probably the greatest fear that we have is that people will not will be on. The stand what we're attempting to do. We are as confident as a committee can be which is have not had the benefit of experience a hundred years ago since then I was with you at that time that we have planned correctly till it attain and to receive all the people who are interested in what heritage we do have In God we are concerned and that we will help people who will not abide by the rules that we have found and necessary to impose in order that we can have a appropriate and safer activity and we have made contingency plans if that does happen. But without a condom the people will

accept the spirit that we planned for. If you were to give a message to those tourists coming into Congo what would it be. I would think if I were to give that message I would suggest that they carefully examine whether in fact they want to come on the 19th of April. This is any other day during 1975 Concords concerns over April 19th are shared by her neighbor. The town of Lexington over 100000 people are expected to descend on Lexington that day also. They will gather here on the Lexington Green where 200 years ago eight Patriots were killed by British soldiers. The main attraction in Lexington and Concord on April 19th will be the parades Concord has its parade in the morning. Lexington in the afternoon Lexington will also close its doors when it approaches the mark of one hundred twenty thousand tourists. Many people fear what will happen to these towns with that many visitors. Where will they park. There is only a handful of parking spaces. Will they park along the narrow

streets or in driveways. And how is traffic expected to move through these towns. This is Congress Center on a regular weekday around 2 o'clock in the afternoon. Picture it on a Saturday with one hundred twenty thousand tourists milling about. No wonder town officials warn that if you do come to Lexington or Concord on April 19th you should plan to be relatively immobile. You won't be driving anywhere in the towns and it will be a while before you can fend yo way home. Route 2 the main link between Lexington Concord and Boston is expected to be a major bottleneck not only where it narrows to wind through the towns but also where it reaches into Cambridge and Boston. And then there is Route 128. There are those who won this like Route 2 could become a parking lot. If Lexington and Concord are sealed off and traffic backs up but still officials are basically optimistic they maintain the between the local police

state police and National Guard standing by. Any problem can be dealt with. There will be helicopters surveying the crowds and checkpoints throughout the area. Just like 200 years ago Lexington and Concord on April 19th 1975 will be a part of a military operation. Officials insist that they have done everything possible and that they have made or thought of every conceivable contingency plan but they still admit they are very nervous and just wish April 19th would hurry and come and go along with the tourists. Lexington and Concord are the focal point of the beginning of the bicentennial celebration. They will actually kick off the 200 anniversary for the rest of America. But there's more to the bicentennial in Massachusetts than Lexington and Concord and April 19th the Commonwealth has more bicentennial communities than any other state. By the time the Bicentennial is past the state of Massachusetts will have

spent two and a half million dollars just in state money. This does not include what a local city or town may spend out of its own tax dollars. The concern on the part of many bicentennial planners is that many cities and towns have just not prepared for the visitors that may be coming their way. There are already shortages of accommodations restaurants parking sanitary facilities. The attitude from many local officials seems to be people just won't come. But the bicentennial planners predict otherwise in what is charted as a bicentennial corridor running from Philadelphia through Washington and New York up to Boston. There are forecasts of literally millions of tourists from throughout America and overseas descending on the historical sites of the Eastern States. In Massachusetts there are high impact communities. Boston Salem Lexington Concord Plymouth and Sturbridge the Gloucester Rockport area. Cape Cod and the Lenox area with Tanglewood is projected as secondary

impact areas. The major impact areas will at least double the number of regular tourists for 1975. Just this summer Boston will jump to six point four million tourists from 2.9 million Salem will double to one point two million. Lexington Concord will jump from 700000 to one and a half million plummet this summer is expected to have 1.3 million tourists Stourbridge will go from six hundred seventy five thousand visitors to one point two million. And Cape Cod usually has seven million visitors each summer. It is anyone's guess how many visitors to the historical sites will take off for a day or two on the Cape. Massachusetts is literally full of drawing cards for history seeking tourists. One of the most famous drawing cards is of course the Mayflower and its home port of Plymouth begins here on Route 3 coming out of Boston because Plymouth is on a major highway by centennial planners expect the majority of tourists to

come by private car. Plymouth is also halfway between Boston and Cape Cod and many visitors to the Bay State heading for the Cape are expected to stop in Plymouth through three during a normal summer day is a slow moving parking lot route 380 that parallels Route 3 is no better. Both these roads are expected to be intolerable during the bicentennial. According to bicentennial projections route 3A along which of the major historical attractions will be handling upwards of an estimated thirty one thousand vehicles a day. The maximum number of vehicles that can be handled is 24000 and expansion of the bus service is not now anticipated for the Plymouth Cape Cod area. What is concerning most people is what will happen to this quiet and in the winter sleepy town. In the summer with the usual number of tourists these narrow streets are clogged the center of town becomes completely impassable. Even the sidewalks are jammed with camera toting tourists.

What will it be like with double the number of tourists and where will they park in all of Plymouth. There is only 1000 parking spaces. This includes curbside parking. The town is still talking about having a neutral site somewhere outside of town and shuttling people in by bus. But as of yet there are no concrete plans. There are those in the states Bicentennial Commission who are disturbed that Plymouth is not planning ahead quite as slowly as some believe they should. I spoke with John Talcott who is the head of the Plymouth bicentennial committee and asked him what Plymouth was expecting and what it has planned. Referring to the number of people that will come here of course we will expect a much larger crowd we normally have in 75 or 76. We have plans or other plans if we're to have a parking area outside the center of town. And then this could be people could be brought in by small buses here for

an event. However I think this would only be when we were having specific events here because some of these are already accustomed to a fairly large tourist all through the summer anyhow. But for our own special events I think that was what we would probably do so would it to accommodate the crowds. You see we did have something of that sort in 1970 when we had our 350000 averse re parade. We had a hundred thousand people here to see that. Is the community excited about the bicentennial or is has Plymouth become so accustomed to it that it's hard to arouse too much enthusiasm in the middle of winter. These tourist attractions are deserted but come the spring and vacation time the families from Nebraska will arrive to wander through the history of this quiet town. The natives may find the Plymouth Rock in the Mayflower rather boring but for millions of tourists these pieces of history are fascinating. It can be safely assume that any visitor who makes the trek to Boston is going to include Plymouth in his historical II tenor and that should swell the numbers of tourists to

plummet substantially beyond the normal peak tourist load. What will that do to this rather quiet simplicity. In a sea coast community north of Plymouth that same question is being asked. This is Cape ban on Massachusetts North Shore. Unlike its sister the south Cape Cod Cape Ann has for the most part been spared the ravages of the commercial animal that feeds off the tourist Gloucester and Rockport are still quaint villages catering more to the fisherman and artist than the tourist. There is not significant bicentennial history in these towns but still they are expected to draw double the usual number of tourists during the bicentennial years. Cape pan is less than an hour's drive from Boston and many visitors to Massachusetts may flee to Gloucester and Rockport just to escape the rigors of historical sightseeing. What better place for the children to watch the lobster boats for dad to sit on the pier

talking to the local fisherman and for mom to cruise through curio shops Gloucester is a slow paced town and who can resist stopping to consult with the old fisherman of the city that for a boating figure who holds all the tales of Gloucester's three hundred fifty years by the sea. But following the nation's bicentennial Will there be new tales to tell tales of jammed roadways debris in the streets and in the water. Angry tourists harming the natural beauty of Cape Ann. And what about Rockport already on a summer's day. Skin neck is awash with tourists. You cannot park anywhere near the center of town. But if you are in the market for a carved wooden fisherman are a sea scape. This is where you must go. Gloucester and Rockport have commissioned various studies that want to get as day trippers to this region but neither community has yet figured out how to discourage the Day Tripper and that is what the majority of their visitors will be who ride to Cape

ban on the swells of the nation's bicentennial. There are those in Gloucester who welcome an increase in the tourist trade hoping it will make up for the failing fishing industry. Others warn the tourist could destroy the charm of this area. At this point Gloucester and Rockport have made no radical plans for coping with the expected increase in tourists. I spoke with Neil Davis head of Gloucester bicentennial Committee and he expressed no overriding concern for the bicentennial and the tourists it will bring. You're confident then that you can handle any of us in five years I thank God. Places like Boston will do us a lot of good because they want to send their people to places such as Cape Fear I think we can cope with and handle with it. Down the road a few miles from Gloucester in Rockport is Salem. It has been designated by the National Park Service as one of 20 national bicentennial celebration sites. The main attraction in Salem is of course its

history of witches. But there is considerably more history to Salem. There is the House of Seven Gables the Maritime National Historic Park Essex Institute Peabody Museum up until about five years ago not that many people visited Salem but in recent years the numbers have swelled to over a million during summer months. The Bicentennial could double that figure. The major project underway in Salem is the rehabilitation and renewal of Salem center. The key problem that exists now and will worsen is parking. Salem already has a shortage of twelve hundred business and retail oriented parking spaces. That's even before the tourists arrive. According to the Bicentennial Commission Salem's dilemma evolves from the fact that although tourist volumes have grown there has been no growth in tourist related facilities. Salem is trying to make up for that now but time is running out and the tourists are on their way.

And when those tourists cross the Massachusetts border you can bet your tri cornered hat they'll eventually end up in Boston. What bicentennial vacation would be complete without a stroll down the Freedom Trail. Boston is history. You cannot make a turn in Boston without coming face to face with more history. But Boston is also a city of today with fine restaurants lounges discotheques and traditional and nontraditional entertainment. Boston's number of tourists is expected to double to 6 million this summer. And they're not all going to be sauntering through the Boston Common and public gardens. They will be all over this city. You've probably noticed but driving in Boston is a frightening experience not only because of Boston drivers but because the entire network of streets is so confusing. Picture the frustrated tourists trying to find his way then picture the angry Bostonian fed up with the frustrated tourist. The city of Boston is even being advertised as the place to

come for the bicentennial and the city has made elaborate plans although what was expected to be the highlight of Boston's bicentennial the completion of the market and waterfront district will not be finished until next year. In the meantime Boston 200 is preparing for the arrival of the tourist. I spoke with Gail Rohde guard head of visitors services for Boston 200. We've been working for about three years to lay out a program that's anticipates most anything will happen. I think we are prepared for most anything that can happen during the bicentennial period. The key things that we have attempted to do HAVE BEEN to get in place at a very good network of information services for people and that's proceeding very well. Two major visitor centers are under construction. The information center on the colony is Monday will have modifications starting there. Massport has come through with facilities at each of their terminals.

We have identified about 70 to other locations around the city of Boston which will be putting up signs and training their employees. The theory being that the easiest and the most important thing for us to do both of those things is to be sure that people can help people no matter what happens during the bicentennial. People will get lost and information center will get them to one. So the whole information services area I think were ready and and right on schedule. Parking is probably the toughest problem to deal with because Boston already has parking problems and the Bicentennial is not going to solve them nor make them drastically worse than they now are. In the beginning we tried to outline a park and ride system so that many people could leave their car at the periphery of the city and take some other form of transportation in. There been some problems in getting that system under way. We're still shooting for 76 and we hope that the state will be able to push forward on a good park and ride system for 76 when the maximum amount of national attention will be focused on

this area and think visitor volumes will be at their peaks accommodations. If you have illusions. Boston is a big a big destination for convention visitors right now and. We had about seventy two hundred rooms in the city proper for 76 it's a very. Uneven picture there are periods when we're booked very full and there are 75 excuse me here and there in 75 there periods were booked quite full and there were quite empty. And we're working very closely with the hotel association for this summer to get in in place a rooms finding service. We believe and they believe that there will be a room. But it may be hard on some days to find it. In 76 rooms are going to be tighter because the convention picture is very good. People have booking in very heavily and we think we have to have some backup space probably. We may have to use University

accommodations university dormitory rooms on a temporary basis. And there's there are plenty of them during the summer. We also are looking at guest houses and other kinds of lodging alternatives and we'll be making our decisions as we see what this summer brings us about what kind of backup system we have to have in place for 76. Are you confident that Boston gives you any great discovery. Yes I think we're big city were a fairly cosmopolitan city we have three and a half million visitors or three million visitors a year now. We don't really notice them that much. They create a few problems they'll create a few more problems we hope we've dealt with them well and we'll continue to deal with them through the bicentennial. There may be some disruption for the two years and we will do our best to see that it's the minimum amount of disruption. I think we've come a long way in three years and I think we stand more prepared than any other place in the country that I've been talking to deal with the bicentennial and anything that may bring us and to

make what is a problem or potential problem into an opportunity for the city of. Boston is viewed by the bicentennial planners as the heart of Massachusetts to 100th anniversary celebration the city of Boston can be regarded as quite literally a heart with its arteries feeding the historical communities throughout the state. Boston is expected to be the meeting ground the place with families start out from and return to in their sightseeing because of the uneasy economy. Many visitors are expected to use the automobile as the basic means of transportation. Originally the state was planning to set up elaborate a park and ride facilities where tourists would park their cars and then travel by shuttle bus to the different cities and towns. But for the most part these plans are still sitting in the wings. There is talk they may be activated for 1976 but nothing is definite at this point. Therefore the visitors to the Bay State will either have to travel by tour bus which can be expensive for an entire family or they travel in their own car. The latter is expected to be the rule.

So what will this do to the state's highways. Already Massachusetts highways handle well over their capacity during peak travel periods such as the summer according to the Bicentennial Commission. The tourists as well as the natives will have trouble on the main thoroughfares this summer. For example look at the roads of the state is simply listing as intolerable for the 1975 summer they are marked by the hollow circle route 3. The entire way from Boston to Plymouth. Then the Commission expects it will clear through. Born in Saginaw which is never really clear if you've ever driven through that area in the summer and then from Hyannis on Route 6 where it narrows all the way to Provincetown. The road once again becomes intolerable. This will make traveling for cave natives and visitors just a bit trying. Route 9 from Boston to Needham is marked as intolerable. Route 2 all the way through Lexington and Concord is regarded as being intolerable. Parts of Route 1 28 will be approaching intolerable according to the commission. But this can be no surprise to those who

travel that road daily north of Boston the traffic will not ease considerably. Just as many bicentennial visitors will flee to the Cape. Many will head for the north shore route one up through Swampscott Salem and Marblehead is listed as intolerable Route 128 out to Gloucester and one twenty nine to Rockport will be intolerable. Now this just takes into account strict traffic volume on these thorough phases. It does not take into consideration the confusion that can be created by a tourist who loses his way or gets turned away from an already overcrowded sight. It also does not include the rest of New England. Many highways through Maine New Hampshire and Vermont they are all planning extensive bicentennial celebrations will also be intolerable. So at least as far as traveling is concerned it may be best for the natives to just stay in one place until the bicentennial tourist has come and gone. For those visitors who are seeking travel information the Massachusetts Bicentennial Commission has set up a toll free telephone number 800 to

4 2 0 9 8 0 0 0 to serve both residents and tourists. The state insists it is as well prepared as it can be for the bicentennial and the tourists. Edward McCall when is the chairman of the Bicentennial Commission. And he explained part of the game plan. The whole concept behind all of this is that there are many things to see in Massachusetts not just Boston. Lexington and Concord and Plymouth but Massachusetts really is full of things for the history buffs to see. And we'd like to be able to disperse the people evenly throughout the whole state. Can you do that. Well that's a goal we're we're shooting for. I think we can buy some public education letting people know that there is this information service available by letting them know but our guide book in which we suggest areas where they can go suggest things that they can see to sort of whet their appetite. Many people say that well we don't have to worry about the bicentennial because the economy is

bad and no one's going to travel that far anyway. And there are some cities and towns out there that I've spoken with who have that same attitude they don't think they're going to be that affected. Is that harming bicentennial planning. Not really it may harm the towns themselves if they fail then to develop programs which may be of interest to their own citizens you know let's not do anything. It's sort of a self-fulfilling prophecy if you say something like that long enough then everybody begins to believe you. I think people are going to come. It's a sort of a thing that maybe a family will want to expose their children to. You know once in a lifetime you've gotta wait another hundred years for this to happen again. So I think people who may be planning on spending less money and maybe budgeting it very wisely but I still think that they're going to want to come to where it all began. And that's Massachusetts. Are you confident that the Commonwealth can survive the

bicentennial. Yes I am. I'd sort of laugh and said survive. I think we will definitely survive and I think that the people that come with their hair delighted with our heritage into in our communities we will not be trampled under. So we've been told that although there will be problems Massachusetts will get through the first year of the Bicentennial intact. But this program is just focused on 1975 not 1976. The prime year of the nation's bicentennial if you find the prospect for 1975 unsettling try 976 when there are projections for 30 to 50 percent more tourists in Massachusetts than in 1975. This is the price we pay for living where it all began. Happy bicentennial. It.

Yes. Yeah.