November 19, 2002: Herald-Times Letter to the editor

Disaster ahead

To the editor:

A disaster is looming in southwestern Indiana that will destroy hundreds of homes and shatter the lives of thousands of Hoosiers. No, this isn't a tornado or earthquake I'm predicting and you won't find the Red Cross offering assistance to the victims. This is a disaster of a most unnatural origin; the extension of I-69 through Monroe County. According to INDOT's report, the preferred routes through Monroe County will destroy as many as 484 homes.

Our 130-year-old farmhouse, built by a Civil War veteran, is likely to be razed if route 3C is chosen. It is the only house my wife and I have ever owned and the only home our four children have ever known. We've watched all four of our children learn to walk across the worn poplar floors. We've enjoyed countless board games in front of the wood stove and listened to young hands learn to play piano in the parlor. This is our home, the place our family belongs and we are sickened by the thought of it being erased from this earth.

For those of you who would accuse me of suffering from "not in my backyard" syndrome, I ask that you take a look at your own backyard. Think of that one special place in this world you call home and then imagine the loss you would feel at its destruction. Then, please say a prayer for the hundreds of families who may lose the places they call home.

Rob Henderson
Bloomington

Issue Update:

On 1/9/2003, Indiana Governor Frank O'bannon announced his choice of route 3C for I-69. A diverse group ranging from environmentalists to fiscal conservatives vow to fight the decision.