President Bush Gives Commencement in Greensburg, Kansas

On the anniversary of the event that would alter the face of its town, Greensburg residents graduated 18 high school seniors and listened to surprise commencement speaker, President George Bush. The New York Times highlights the visit in today’s edition and paints a picture of what was left post-tornado:

A new water tower rises high above denuded elm trees. New houses are springing up. The brick bank building, the only one on Main Street to survive the storm, is still standing, boarded up and vacant, next to a hole in the ground where the movie theater used to be. The old red brick schoolhouse is gone, replaced by a collection of mobile trailers — a marvel in the eyes of people who once doubted that there would be school at all.

And quotes Mayor John Janssen as to his reasons around a new city ordinance which requires all public buildings to adhere to high standards of energy efficiency:

“There were people who said we need to build it back just like it was, and I said, ‘Fine, we’ll order plywood for the windows on Main Street at the same time,’ ” he said. “But when you have a blank palette, why not do it right? And right was green.”