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- Throughout the latter half of the 20th century,
major industrial cities deteriorated
as America's manufacturing steadily decreased.
Once the thriving Beloit Iron Works,
Beloit Corporation,
along with Fairbanks Morse,
experienced decline in the 1970s and 80s...
Eventually, Beloit Corporation had to close its doors,
while Fairbanks Morse eliminated jobs.
- Jeff Adams: Fairbanks Morse, shortly after World War II,
employed 6,000 people.
It was an economic powerhouse.
By 1979, 1988,
it was down to 600 people.
And you could see that in vacant and abandoned factories.
You could see that in the working-class neighborhoods.
The life had simply been
sucked out of those neighborhoods.
And if you ventured into our downtown,
you would have seen lots of vacant storefronts.
When the cameras would show up in Beloit, it was, you know,
"Tell us about the crime that took place,"
or "Let's look at the unemployment rates."
There was just a constant reminder
that things had been better at one point.
♪ ♪
Some of the business leadership decided
to begin to meet and to say,
"We've got to do something.
What can we do?"
- Archival Footage: That group, which called itself Beloit 2000...
- In 1989, Beloit business leaders formed Beloit 2000,
a non-profit aiming to nimprove the city and its image.
As an economics professor at Beloit College,
Jeff Adams took on the role of project manager.
The organization hired landscape architect Phil Lewis
to develop a roadmap.
Later known as the "Lewis Sketch Plan,"
this vision for the future of Beloit
became a framework for Beloit 2000's principal focus:
The Riverfront Project.
- Jeff Adams: One of our early themes was "Rediscover Beloit."
It was the notion that while we had some image problems,
things weren't nearly as bad
as people from the outside kind of thought.
And we wanted to bring people here
to kind of see and to rediscover this place.
We had a 3D model of the riverfront project.
We would take that down to Riverfest,
which was our music festival in July.
And we had a tent, and we had all the plans, and so on.
And we would bring people in-- we'd have one at a time--
to kind of see this idea.
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- Over the next 20 years,
Beloit 2000 accomplished several projects
Nthat now make up Riverside Park.
- Jeff Adams: There are some boat docks.
There's quite a bit of sculpture.
A lot of it Verne Shaffer's work.
There's the lagoon, which was renovated.
There's Harry Moore Pavilion.
We have dancing at Harry's Place.
There's Movie on the Big Lawn.
In the space is the Rotary River Center.
There are walkways and fountains and paddle boats,
and other kinds of things.
But the kind of the beating heart of Riverfront
is Turtle Island, which is the kid's playland.
I'm really very proud of having gotten that started.
- Resident: The piers and the docks,
the new center that's down there along the river
is very nice, very attractive,
and I think it's going a long way
in the improvement of the city of Beloit.
- Marc Perry: I grew up at a time
when Beloit had a thriving downtown and the mall
and all of that
and it was a thriving little community.
And then, slowly started to diminish,
and you saw downtown kind of become a ghost town,
and businesses started to close.
♪ ♪
To see the transition, the rebirth over time
has been really tremendous.
To see downtown come back and be revitalized,
to see our riverfront revitalized...
it's awesome to see.
- Marc Perry grew up in the Merrill Neighborhood,
a unique area of Beloit where Black residents
could become homeowners and find community.
- Marc Perry: Beloit was just more welcoming
than most communities in Wisconsin.
You had people who were working in factories and industry.
Our teachers lived in the same neighborhood that we lived in,
as did other African American professionals.
So, it was really neat growing up in that time frame.
At one point, I was like,
"I'm leaving here, and never coming back.
"It's a small town I can't handle.
I need to be in a bigger space."
My mom especially was concerned about
just making sure I had opportunities.
And so, I migrated to larger communities.
Milwaukee, Chicago, St. Louis.
I was, you know, 34 years old,
and then, Beloit was on an economic upswing.
So, I wanted to come back and be a part of that
because there were certain communities
that were still being left out of that upswing.
- At the same time Beloit hit hard times,
so did the city's historically Black neighborhoods.
[pounding]
Now, organizations like Community Action
Nwork to revitalize those spaces.
- Marc Perry: Merrill was our focus initially
back in 2007.
It was a neighborhood where
we wanted to make sure things weren't falling behind
and that people had housing
and homeownership opportunities.
[drilling] - All the way out? - Yeah.
- Since 2006, Fresh Start has built 14 houses.
We focused on getting people housed,
making sure that people have a safe roof over their head.
[drill clutch clicking]
- Through these initiatives,
Beloit residents not only hope for
but create a better future for their community.
- Marc Perry: Really making sure
that the Merrill neighborhood is not isolated,
that economic growth that's swelling everywhere else
doesn't miss that neighborhood.
Remember that this community isn't whole
until the whole community has access.
- Revitalization continues in Beloit,
with community partners coming ntogether and creating new goals
through Beloit 2020.
- Jeff Adams: Because, well...
2000 had come and gone.
We kind of broadened the scope of our concerns
beyond the riverfront
to what we call the city center.
The idea also provided a framework
for the Hendricks Development Corporation
to make their major and significant real estate investments
on State and Grand and also at the Iron Works.
And we were able to eventually get into South Beloit
and to accomplish Nature At The Confluence.
- Julie Uram: Our building is located
just two or three blocks south of the state line
with Illinois and Wisconsin.
There's both Beloit and South Beloit,
local businesses, neighbors,
and the folks that want to see this area
become an ever more beautiful place.
We're all invested in making the confluence area
a beautiful and central place for the community.
I often tell students that visit
"Nature doesn't know our boundaries
and the boundaries that we create as people."
So, South Beloit and Beloit are really one community.
There's absolutely full-circle things happening here
all the time.
And we appreciate that we get to work with the Ho-Chunk people
and we want them to know that they are welcome here.
This is their land and their home.
And we, as our staff and our volunteers,
try our best to make this
a beautiful space that honors that history.
- Bill Quackenbush: When we speak about the Nature at the Confluence,
that brings a special smile to my face.
Our tribal youth going there can see, you know,
all the wonderful work they're doing
in not only restoring the environmental, you know, context
of what this area used to be like,
but they also promote it in a good way down there.
To be able to sit there with your youth
and talk about the history of
"Your ancestors have been here for thousands of years,
"sitting in much the same way.
"And they needed the vital resources
that you see out there today."
- Julie Uram: Getting to witness those community connections here
makes my heart overflow,
and I think is meaningful for our visitors, as well,
especially those that keep coming back.
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- Bill Quackenbush: Beloit was just a beautiful hub
for us to come together and share stories.
It has everything you need and more.
And those cultural resources, you know,
is something that we look forward to working with Beloit
to protect and preserve.
- Today, Beloit is a vibrant city...
[angle grinder howling]
Nstill defined by its industry...
- Look at you, Noah! Great job!
- ...education,
community gatherings,
and hopes for the future.
- Pat Bussie: The city of Beloit,
on a Friday, Saturday, during the week,
it's busy.
We've got good shops there, good places to eat.
It's alive!
You look at the companies around Beloit,
they're investing in Beloit.
They want Beloit to grow.
And quite honestly, it's working.
And I'm gonna do my part to keep it going.
[birds chirping]
- Fred Burwell: I like to think that the college will continue
to be innovative, unconventional,
and to take a chance on students that show talent--
academic talent-- but haven't found their way yet.
I also like to think that the city and the college
can come together even more.
The college will seek ways
to have students be a real strong part of the community.
- Cheryl Caldwell: I really, really do hope
that young kids
stop and look at what came before them,
who came before them, and what they did.
- Wanda Sloan: I want to leave Beloit
a better place for my children and grandchildren to thrive in--
not just live, but to thrive in
and be as successful as they want to be.
Becoming greater human beings in the process,
more welcoming, more knowledgeable,
more accepting.
I believe we all have a story
and when we respect each other's stories,
I think unity is achievable.
My hope for Beloit is that
we can truly live out the meaning of a great American city.
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