Symbolic front facade left unused
Watertown Post Editorial
Take a stroll past Watertown City Hall — our center of civic life, our supposed house of the people — and you’ll notice something that says more about the city’s current direction than any budget meeting or ribbon-cutting ceremony ever could.
The front doors are closed. Locked. Unused. And printed right there on the glass in permanent-looking letters: “Please use side entrance on Sterling Street.”
No temporary sign. No indication this is a short-term inconvenience. Just an institutional shrug — as if the front of the building is no longer meant for the people at all.
This isn’t a grand historic structure with marble steps and towering columns. It’s a modern, accessible building — clean lines, smooth marble, wide walkways. It was designed with openness in mind. But that vision is being quietly erased. The message now? Go around. Don’t bother. We’re not really open for business in the way we once were.
And that, in a nutshell, is Watertown’s problem.
When the public’s front door is permanently sealed, what does that say about how our city operates? When the literal face of city government is reduced to an unused façade, what does that say about transparency, pride, and public service?
City Hall should be open — literally and symbolically. The front doors are not just a means of entry; they are a statement. They are supposed to say, “You’re welcome here.” Right now, they say the opposite.
We are a city of hard-working people who deserve better than side-door politics. If Watertown wants to attract talent, investment, and energy — it should start by acting like it belongs in the conversation. That means turning on the lights, opening the doors, and being proud of who we are and what we stand for.
Open the front doors. Not just for easier access — but to open a new chapter in how we present ourselves to the public we serve.
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