Island's future: From tunnel vision to divine mysteries

But the call for ideas on Hilton Head Island's future demands that we not dig deeper, but soar higher.

A shared statement of core values must come before the backhoes, nail guns and wrecking balls.

So say two local leaders who are challenging Hilton Head to think about why tourists, retirees and entrepreneurs would invest a nickel here 20 years from now. What will attract bright, ambitious young people to be the next leaders?

"If we're no longer developing, and it's getting more and more competitive to bring in visitors, and as visitor spending per-day goes down, we need a bold new vision of what will make us an attractive place to live and work 15 years from now," says David Ames, who came to the island as a Sea Pines Co. community planner in 1973.

Town manager Steve Riley says, "We face aging infrastructure, a loss of shared values, and the loss of a bit of our cachet. Status quo cannot be an option."

Here's a tiny glimpse at the challenges Riley foresees: "There is only so much you can do with an aging condo. At the end of its useful life, how do you get all the various owners to agree on a new way forward?"

Ames thinks every group in town -- particularly the neighborhoods, resorts and gated communities -- should be asking the same questions, and helping define community core values. That will be needed to guide limited public dollars and advertising dollars to keep the community vital.

Your ideas

Tunnels weren't the only thing readers suggested after I wrote about this new challenge two weeks ago. Following are some of your responses:

• "Building our brand through people is right on. Hilton Head is all about family. We should build on that."

• "How about the downtown that we sorely need?"

• "Look at what 'The Gathering Place' does on St. Simons Island (Ga.) to draw in more than 1,000 young people every Sunday night in the tourist season. Check out the Chautauqua Institution in New York state for summer programs."

• "Give our magnificent symphony a home. Build a fine arts center that could be used by many groups."

• "Don't change it. Refresh old buildings, but I come because it is a quiet, family retreat. If I want The Breakers, I'll go to The Breakers."

• "Our bike paths are a real treasure. We could do more to advertise bicycling as a good form of exercise and transportation on our island."

• "Publicize our Volunteers in Medicine Clinic and Deep Well Project and other such programs providing relief and support to others by volunteers."

• "Give a nod to another body of citizens with vision and leadership that will also present its findings to the full town Planning Commission and Town Council soon. That is the town Planning Commission Comprehensive Planning Committee. There's tons of information on the town's Web site (www.hiltonheadislandsc.gov) under 'Charting The Island's Future -- Comp Plan Update.'"

• "Improve Hilton Head Island's environmental image."

• "You state that 'the way we treat each other -- residents, guests, young and old" -- must be a core value that will distinguish us and propel us forward. Memory Matters (formerly Alzheimer's Respite & Resources) addresses just that issue. A visible property on U.S. 278 (North Side Park) has just been redeveloped, taking an underutilized commercial property and creating a state-of-the-art, energy-efficient facility that will serve the escalating need for dementia care on the island. More than $2 million has been raised to fund this project. There is not a comparable facility in the Southeast. Our community will become a beacon of support and its reputation will be enhanced as a result."

'Divine mysteries'

And then there is this from longtime islander Ned McNair. It is less about what to do than how to think.

"I think a great deal about our island home but readily admit I have no new thoughts. I am always thinking the old thoughts of (Sea Pines founder) Charles Fraser and his quote from René Dubos (who gave us 'think globally, act locally'):

" 'Without some awareness of nature and experience of its divine mysteries, man ceases to be a man. When the wind and the sea is no longer a part of the human spirit, a part of the very flesh and bone, man becomes a cosmic outlaw, having neither the completeness and integrity of the animal nor the birthright of true humanity.'

"Many who worked for Charles bought into that idea -- that as islanders we were part of a larger work, that of providing the 'awareness of nature and the experience of its divine mysteries.'

"Charles believed, and we experience daily, that the sea and the sound, the river and the creek, the sand dunes and the beach, the huge marshes and dark skies of the night -- all framed with the bold trunks of bearded oaks along with the song of the sea breeze and the rattle of the palm -- restored the worn psyche of the city dweller, refreshed the weakened bodies and souls of those on the point in government, the military, the arts, academia, and business.

"As we go forward, if we lose more of the natural, we will lose the soul of Hilton Head. We are so much more than landscaping, architecture, the arts, fundraising balls, libraries and theaters. All are good, but none are unique. What is unique is that it all exists in a place that still looks like an island, a thing surrounded by wild waters and marshes, and covered in trees -- and not like Anywhere Nice USA."

What do you think?