Laurent was a proposed

planned community A planned community, planned city, planned town, or planned settlement is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed on previously undeveloped land. This contrasts with settlements that evolve ...

south of

Salem Salem may refer to: Places Canada Ontario * Bruce County ** Salem, Arran–Elderslie, Ontario, in the municipality of Arran–Elderslie ** Salem, South Bruce, Ontario, in the municipality of South Bruce * Salem, Dufferin County, Ontario, part ...

, South Dakota and which was designed for

Deaf Deafness has varying definitions in cultural and medical contexts. In medical contexts, the meaning of deafness is hearing loss that precludes a person from understanding spoken language, an Audiology, audiological condition. In this context it ...

, Hard of Hearing and other

American Sign Language American Sign Language (ASL) is a natural language that serves as the predominant sign language of Deaf communities in the United States of America and most of Anglophone Canadians, Anglophone Canada. ASL is a complete and organized visual lang ...

users. The town was to be named after

Laurent Clerc Louis Laurent Marie Clerc (; 26 December 1785 – 18 July 1869) was a French teacher called "The Apostle of the Deaf in America" and was regarded as the most renowned deaf person in American Deaf History. He was taught by Abbé Sicard and dea ...

; it was originally planned that the first residents would start moving into town in 2008. The project was led by Marvin T. Miller, a deaf journalist and M. E. Barwacz (Miller's hearing mother-in-law). He claimed that the financing for the construction of the town, which was to encompass an area of , was secured by a combination of Miller's own funds and a group of private investors. At the peak of planning, 158 families had put themselves on a waiting list to move into the town. In the early stages of the project, Miller and Barwacz were invited to establish the townsite at Spencer, South Dakota as there were many available lots, but this offer was rejected in favor of the site near the I-90 / US 81 interchange. As planning progressed, this project was the subject of much "pro" and "con" discussions, the "pro" discussion coming from various organizations including the National Association of the Deaf. On the "con" side, there was the

Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing The Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, also known as AG Bell, is an organization that aims to promote listening and spoken language among people who are deaf and hard of hearing. It is headquartered in Washington, ...

, who have argued that persons with "disabilities" should integrate into society rather than form an

enclave An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...

. Also, a number of local residents had expressed concerns about the viability, economic aspects of the project, and its impact on the area. By 2007, a number of factors combined that led Miller and Barwacz to dissolve the Laurent Company (which had been coordinating efforts to build the town) and relocate to

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...

: Miller and Barwacz had exhausted their own funds, the main "angel investor" that Miller had been depending on for $10 million in funding was unable to deliver, and most importantly to Miller, he had serious concerns over the quality of the education his children were receiving at the

South Dakota School for the Deaf South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz ...

Sioux Falls Sioux Falls () is the most populous city in the U.S. state of South Dakota and the 130th-most populous city in the United States. It is the county seat of Minnehaha County and also extends into Lincoln County to the south, which continues up t ...

. Once at Indiana, Miller made an attempt to interest the community there in his " signing town" concept, but it apparently was not well-received; no further word has surfaced regarding this project. The website Miller had created to promote his idea on-line has also long since ceased to exist.

References

{{coord, 43, 39, 50, N, 97, 23, 10, W, display=title McCook County, South Dakota Deaf culture in the United States