Changes

Just don t expect the same old Hanover.

Ever since plumbing replaced the pump on the Green in 1893, the place just hasn't been the same. Below are a Baker's dozen of the more recent changes.

• The train doesn't come to Norwich anymore. In fact, it doesn't even come to White River Junction, at least for the time being. A dispute over track repairs has shut down the Montrealer north of Springfield, Massachusetts.

• Following a national trend to miniaturize the silver screen, the Nugget theatre has been split into two "cinemas."

• On weekday mornings before eight, incoming traffic from Vermont backs up across the Ledyard Bridge and as far as the I-91 interchange in Norwich.

• The Hanover Inn's grill room has been redecorated into nouveau Art Deco. Another change: the restaurant makes money. • There are park benches on the

Green. • Eating places such as The Indian Bowl now Bentley's have been gentrified. Even Lou's offers a New England version of Mexican food.

• Two airlines service Lebanon Airport on a clear day.

• Mo's, Hal's and Tanzi's are gone. So is Davis Rink.

• There are now three traffic lights on Main Street.

• Within a ten-minute drive from the Green are a Benneton's, a brewery, a television station, a hot-tub parlor, two self-defense schools, 26 marriage counselors, two hypnotists, two acupuncturists, three tanning parlors, three Chinese restaurants, four art galleries and an all-night bowling alley.

• DEKE House is gone, replaced by a parking lot. But there is some harmony in Hanover: The new dorms on East Wheelock were built on the site of a parking lot.

Main Street 19305: Merchants come and go but Hanover's parking problem remains.