Editorial: Be sure to attend March 16 meeting about our museum

The Belleville Area Museum is in the hands of Van Buren Township and it’s been closed for 1,102 days, much to the chagrin of people who find this area’s history important.
The township held a public meeting without elected officials where people from the tri-community were asked to write what they want at their museum on little sticky notes. That offended many attending. People have been scratching their heads ever since, wondering what in the heck is taking so long.
The township finally set a meeting for Feb. 22, but Mother Nature erased that date with a big storm. Now, the township meeting has been set for Thursday, March 16, at 6 p.m. at the Belleville Area District Library on Fourth Street in downtown Belleville. No other meetings that night.
From the advertisement for the meeting, it looks like they have decided what they are going to do with our museum because they are having prize-winning consultants Good Design Group present the proposed master plan, followed by a public comment period. We can hardly wait.
What bothers us is that everyone having a hand in this master plan – other than a few sticky notes – is not from the Belleville area. Most of the staff at Van Buren Township, talented as they are, are not originally from this area. They don’t have a deep feeling for our history and how critically important we feel it is for our children to learn. If you can get to the March 16 meeting, do so. It might make a difference.