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Show European village plan denies existing town characte Do the smaller communities in Utah County want to make over their character in order to turn the towns into theme parks that will attract an estimated half-million tourists a year? That's the question a local development organization is asking many of our towns. We should answer them with a resounding, "No." Clearly the group, called the Newheart Institute, has a vision of turning parts of Utah County into imitation parts of Europe --with Lehi cast as a quaint English village and Pleasant Grove as a slice of Bavaria. Under the scheme, Springville would be remade into Scandinavia and Spanish Fork would take on a western Mediterranean look. Once the transformation is complete, the way the Newheart people envision it, tourists would flock to Utah County to experience the European atmosphere without ever leaving the country. It's a concept that has worked in other parts of the country, most notably in California. And Disney s Eptot Center has done a similar job with its World Showcase But local city fathers need to ask themselves this, s such a project appropriate for Utah Valley and do our local communities want to sacrifice their character in order to attract tourist dollars. The plan to make Utah Valley a little Europe requires total commitment to work, and it will mean giving up many of the things that give our local cities their sense of community. Lehi is proud of its Roundup, but such a celebration would have no place in England. If the community is to go British, the rodeo would have to be redone. A Newheart representative has suggested possibly a joust to replace the 50-year-old traditional rodeo. That's just an example of the kind of sacrifice Newheart is calling for - all in the name of tourist dollars. And it comes at a cost local residents shouldn't be willing to pay. Each community in Utah County ha T qualities; each has its own makeup. And that uS adds to the lives of the residents even as th w add to the town's character. cne side P What Newheart is suggesting is a complete m , ' with the corporation picking up its fee as a c 0vt the project, while local business owners anrnSUltantit pick up the cost of selling out their communitv i into a theme park instead of a home town H Such a transition goes against the grain of th tradition and heritage of each of our Utah 6 ' communities. It is a sell-out designed to turn 01 i into places where people may want to visit h ' won't want to live there. ' ut they J Our local communities need to continue with ' beautification efforts, but not by throwing out a t identity in order to capitalize on tourist dollars Let's work on making our towns into more nf i they are, instead of turning them into something?1 J are not. 8ttlt! ". |