The Gameplan, Part 3: Leverage

This courtyard area was formed by a fire which destroyed the Smith Hotel in Hillsdale. It is now being renovated to serve as an outdoor club space after being neglected for several years.

Dear Boss,

People establish cities to meet a real need. This need develops organically, rising through the processes of communal human action. While a group may establish a city to meet several particular needs, those founding needs often fade away over time. When that death of purpose occurs, the city's people need to look to their local resources to find the source for renewal.

My previous post alleged that Hillsdale finds itself in a time of renewal. Pioneers founded Hillsdale to serve the needs of transportation and industry. Now, transportation has shut down, industry has left, and it is unlikely that either will return anytime soon. Hillsdale now needs to seek out a new purpose. The first step in this process would be to restore Downtown Hillsdale's historic architecture and infrastructure. But merely rebuilding the Downtown is not enough; we must also nudge it towards a fulfilling and lucrative purpose. We must find the resources that are already local to the place. In the case of Hillsdale, its one unique resource is the notoriety of Hillsdale College.

Hillsdale College stands alone as a genuinely independent college dedicated to advancing the Western tradition of education in the modern era. Its fierce independence means that it refuses to take any money from the government and forbids students from accepting government funds. This refusal allows the College to pursue its educational priorities and policies. It has also staved off the administrative bloat required in nearly all other schools of higher education, allowing the College to keep costs relatively low. Most importantly, this means that Hillsdale College is one of the few colleges where kids are still allowed to have fun, as soulless bureaucrats commissioned to kill joy aren't haranguing the student body.

Because of this idiosyncrasy, Hillsdale College has become quite the destination for right-leaning people across the globe. Over 70,000 people visit the College annually, and that number continues to rise every year. This traffic is especially impressive given how isolated the College is. Hillsdale College is about two hours away from any major city. Unless you have a private plane, your only option is to drive here. Despite the difficulty in arriving at Hillsdale, tens of thousands of individuals make the journey, often multiple times per year. This bloc presents a great starting point for one seeking to leverage the College's reputation in town more generally.

This steam engine was purchased and restored by the Fort Wayne Historical Society. They now use feature it in the Indiana Rail Experience, which utilizes Hillsdale as a main stop.

There are some simple ways to increase activity in Hillsdale. One way to increase activity would be to make it easier to arrive in Hillsdale. Despite its small size, the local municipal airport's runway is long enough to support the small connecting flights from larger airports. One aspect of my project will be making the case to airlines in Chicago to connect to Hillsdale. There may be enough traffic to justify becoming one more spoke in the hub, and having the option to fly directly to Hillsdale would likely boost tourism quickly. Even if a significant airline refuses to connect to Hillsdale, there may be creative ways to bring air traffic to the city. But it is not enough to merely make the journey to Hillsdale easier; to truly leverage the College's notoriety, we must offer more programming to attract significant numbers of visitors (and their wallets) to the city. My ultimate vision for Hillsdale is to turn it into a "conservative retreat center" which will serve as an economic engine for the city.

The Left already has such places. One prominent example is the Chautauqua Institution in New York. At Chautauqua, people gather each summer for nine weeks of programming. Each week has its own theme, ranging from domestic curiosities to geopolitical issues. This summer's themes cover topics such as "Exploring the Transformative Power of Music" and "The Evolution of the Modern Presidency." Beyond lectures, Chautauqua offers daily worship (presented by the latest LGBTQXYAFJOI-affirming priestesses), multiple orchestra concerts, operas, and ballets. The Chautauqua movement has proved successful and even sparked offshoots in places like Boulder, CO. If applied in Hillsdale, this model would do wonders for the town. Summers at Chautauqua bring in over 100,000 attendees and feature more than 100 speakers. That would quickly fill Hillsdale's hotels, restaurants, and stores for the entire season. Indeed, it would necessitate the development of more hotels and related services than the town currently offers.

The City of Hillsdale can become a living, breathing convention center. Some lectures will take place up the Hill, at the College. Downtown Hillsdale's various spaces will host other events. A lesson on the joys of cooking and natural nutrition will be offered in a top-tier restaurant. Discussions of politics will rumble in the smoke-filled rooms of a cigar lounge. Concerts will take place in a rebuilt Hillsdale Opera House. The conservative movement is large and diverse, but there are relatively few places where individuals across the spectrum of conservatism can gather in a relaxed and intimate environment where they can learn from one another.

Furthermore, conservatives often hamper themselves by confining their discussions to public policy rather than discussing how best to live more generally. It is not enough to impose good laws; we must also relearn how to live worthy lives. Hillsdale College's unique reputation allows the city to become a life-giving environment where visitors debate and learn about everything from the lowest to the highest matters of life.

Symbiotic institutions must also crop up to harness the College’s reputation. Hillsdale College is renowned for its commitment to a proper liberal arts education. It offers intellectual expertise and craftsmanship not found in nearly any other modern college. But it only provides training in the liberal arts. A second college should also be created to offer fine craftsmanship training and a formation in physical beauty.

There will always be demand for highly skilled craftsmen capable of creating and preserving beautiful things. We live in a time when such people are in demand, but few are trained (we aren't even training enough people to perform standard crafts, let alone fine crafts). Our old, beautiful buildings are decaying, and a vanishingly small number of craftsmen are still around to fix them. A fine trades school in Hillsdale, modeled after schools like the American College of the Building Arts, would stem the tide of cultural decay in America as we rediscover the means to make beauty manifest in our communities. It would also make Hillsdale a one-stop city for Americans seeking intellectual and physical beauty for themselves and their communities.

Christ Chapel at Hillsdale College. The Chapel’s construction required the builders to learn skills that are no longer used in modern buildings, but which create an enduring and beautiful structure. We need to relearn how to build beautiful things.

Realizing this vision would renew Hillsdale’s purpose. It would ensure that the city remains interesting and vibrant for years to come and reinforce the historical importance of Hillsdale in America. Finally, it would offer Americans a place to discuss how best to seriously engage with themselves, their neighbors, their communities, and their God.