THANK YOU! I was just going to add that it was not only the Granite City Ponderosa that shut down, but the Collinsville location AS WELL AS the Edwardsville location on Highway 159. The one in Edwardsville couldn't have been more than three or four years old when it closed its doors. It was a gorgeous building.
And the old cinema, OMG, just OMG. It was disgusting on the inside. Particularly the bathrooms. And like you said, their only business was drop off at the door, NO MATTER WHAT the rating was on the movie. If it was rated "R", all you had to do was stand in line, buy a ticket for your kid, and watch them walk in the door. Two hours of babysitting for a buck!
My kids would want to go and we would say, nope it's an "R" rated movie. Then they would relay how other kids got in. Not happening here, no way.
The times we went to the cinema, we saw people almost in fist fights over seats, saving seats, etc. Unsupervised brats, loud and obnoxious. It was time for that place to be replaced. When it closed its doors we hadn't been there in years.
We now have several new businesses, but are people patronizing them? The people wanted a donut shop, we have one. A nice one. People wanted a bookstore, we have one. A nice one. People wanted a more upscale dining choice, we have one. A nice one. And all of these places are clean and nice on the outside as well as inside. Let's give them our business.
That corner on Nameoki Road, SHOULD HAVE BEEN SOLD on its merit, on the surrounding businesses, by our Economic Developer. You can't wait for businesses to come to you, we need someone to go after them. And I don't mean another used car lot.