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Editorial: The Blade (Toledo, OH)
by Gary Madrzykowski
02-17-98
HOORAY! At last an editorial (Feb. 3) strongly outlining the economic benefits of Fallen Timbers as an associate National Park site. Through all the years of arguing back and forth -- even before the proposed shopping mall came into the picture -- I've waited for someone to state as strongly as The Blade did the benefits of having a national park site in northwest Ohio.
In 1994, for the first time in global economics, tourism surpassed agriculture as the world's No. 1 economic indicator, and it shows no signs of relinquishing that plateau. In the United States, tourism is the second leading money-maker, and in the state of Ohio, it is No. 3.
In each of these categories, heritage tourism is the fastest-growing enterprise. As baby boomers age, we become more enthralled with U.S. history, and travel to these destinations means substantial money for local economics.
Fremont's Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center, the most visited heritage tourism destination of the Ohio Historical Society's 672 affiliated sites, generates more than $1.25 million annually to Sandusky County's local economy. This is from a population base of 20,000, roughly 1/20th of the Toledo area.
Remember that there is only one place in the entire nation where the country's premier east/west interstate, I-80/90, and the principle north/south route, I-75, intersect, and that's in Toledo. With proper signage, the Fallen Timbers site just off I-475 is a prime tourism location from both major transportation arteries.
People may respond, "Sure, history sells, but Fallen Timbers? Prove it!" Toledo Metroparks hosted the Battle of Fallen Timbers Bicentennial Commemoration in summer, 1994, which first brought this nationally important epic to the public's attention. Every performance of "The Trail to Fallen Timbers" outdoor drama sold out months in advance.
Approximately 500 people turned out each Sunday afternoon for "A Day of Healing" with the American Intertribal Association. There wasn't a chair available for the historic lecture series.
We couldn't make enough handmade heritage gifts to sell at the impromptu gift shop. Does Fallen Timbers sell? You bet it does!
Remember the lesson behind [Field of Dreams] "if you build it, they will come." Fallen Timbers National Park would be a natural coupling with Fort Meigs, or what about planning a great day in conjunction with the fabulous Miami and Erie Canal Restoration and Ludwig Mill just a dozen miles or so down the road at Providence Metropark?
Or a weekend or week-long package with COSI or the Toledo Zoo or Sauder's Farm and Craft Village or the Hayes Presidential Center or the Toledo Museum of Art or all of the area's other wonderful heritage tourism attractions that prove day-in, day-out, year-in, year-out, no matter the economic climate, that historical tourism sites are a favorite destination for Americans and foreign visitors alike?
National park sites are so popular that many accept visitors on a reservation-only basis to keep crowds manageable and their historic experience enjoyable.
National battlefield sites are huge draws. Look at Gettysburg or Little Big Horn, to name just two. Why not make Fallen Timbers their Midwest contemporary?
Keep this in mind as well. How many closed and boarded up stores and malls have we all seen? Sadly, too many. But how many historic tourism sites have you ever seen or even heard of closing? None that I can recall.
I can almost see all the tour buses and out-of-state plates at Fallen Timbers right now! And who knows, maybe there will even be a few northwest Ohio plates there as well, taking advantage of another treasure we have right here in our own back yard.
Gary Madrzykowski is director of communications and marketing for the Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center in Fremont.
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