I lived in Bellows Falls for almost a year during 1976 and 1977. It was an extraordinary place to experience. So much carefully preserved evidence of history was there on every block of the town.
I have lived on the West Coast for the majority of my years, and am all too familiar with massive modern buildings that often have a soulless quality. Bellows Falls has avoided that fate, making it a gem for this entire country to treasure.
I cannot tell you what a mistake and a tragedy it would be to site a detention center in Rockingham. Due to the current unspoiled beauty of Bellows Falls, its residents depend heavily on tourism and summer dwellers for income. Imagine what a large detention center and its accompanying traffic could do to damage the present reality.
Sadly, as with so many such boondoggles, it sounds as if a few people who would like to make a huge personal profit are attempting to push their entirely inappropriate plans on Rockingham citizens - plans which sound as though they would result in ugly, damaging folly.