The self appointed wanna be spokesperson for the city needs a reality check and a wakeup call. Lets just call a duck a duck and stop with the rose colored glass views of what you call the District. Let us start right there with that stupid name. The "District" was already in use for another area and was nothing more than a copy cat rip off to begin with. But lets skip past that awkward tidbit.
"WOW. Open house at Omega Music. Always loved this corner but wow wow wow the plans,, the new look,, the enthusiasm,,, Welcome to The District in Granite City, IL where Music is the language,, the food delicious and where the lights are always on"
"the food delicious", what food, which place? I will be the first to agree if we're talking about Jerry's cafeteria or JJ's but that is where I draw the line. She certainly can't be talking about the new pizza place where the guy recently lost his shit or good judgement and started charging 100 bucks for his pizza, or he tried to, is more like it and then he turned on the closed sign permanently stating bad management decisions forced him into it (when he was the manager).
She surely isn't talking about 2 or 3 other places that have inconsistent hours and are hardly ever open, or that place that serves bowls of cereal!
That closing statement stating where "where the lights are always on" has to be a joke. The lights are always on unless it's Monday or a Tuesday or after 4 or so in the evening, or past 2 pm on a weekend, or unless it thunders that day, or rains too hard, or the wind blows too hard, or there is a threat of snow, or if it's too hot that day, or if it's too cold that day or if the sun isn't shining that day, well you get the idea, you all know. I must add though, there is never a shortage of entertainment of the unplanned kind while driving the streets of this entire area when the sidewalks are alive and crawling with discharged kettler patients and tweaking methheads trying to score their next fix. Right around sunset the climate takes a turn and not for the better, the backpacks come out and are proudly strapped to the backs of peddle pushers who have exceeded their DUI limits and begin making their rounds for the next garden gnome or planter to swipe and if luck is really on their side they will peddle past an unlocked vehicle or 2 to pilfer through.
Welcome to the District!Don't hate me for pointing out the obvious
Assuming you. Are talking about one of two female alderpersons. Would you expect her to recite gloom and doom like some of the inbreds in town? It may be a bit hyped up but let’s give it time.
Mrs. O is looking up the post now. I don’t do Facebook. I like my GCG. Hey, that could be a song.
Mrs. o confirmed the poster. they did not fail, because they did what their country asked of them....
Gloom and doom, not necessarily, but there has to be something between her post and the actual truth. Oh we've given it time, plenty of time, decades in fact. The die-hards have been sprinkling fairy dust on this revitalization in big heaping piles for 15 years now. If it hasn't began to work its magic yet, it's just not going to happen, not without cleaning up the rest of the city first. Clean up and revitalize uptown, then eventually people will venture downtown.Don't hate me for pointing out the obvious
George, I somewhat agree with you. However, being somewhat familiar with TIF laws, much of what is being done downtown is paid for by those funds and they can't be used elsewhere.
In the last two years. Mrs. O. and I have been to the theater more than in the last ten. I don't understand businesses being opened on certain days and not others. You can't make money on a locked door. That being said, Jerry's is our after-church place to be and occasionally Mrs. O and her lady friends go the Garden Gate.
Now, as for uptown, those are privately owned buildings with outrageous leases from what I hear. Owned by out-of-town interest, they suck up the dollars and then leave. Of course, the new Ollies is bringing in revenue and you have to hand it to places like Arby's and Lees that keep their property nice.
The only tool the city has is to cite those owners time and time again, but I can tell you, Madison County judges are very lenient toward those defendants.
Parkinson and company are fighting an uphill battle especially in code enforcement because it was let go to long. The horse isn't just out of the barn, it's miles away. They did finally remove some of the decade old vacant signs but there is so much more to do.they did not fail, because they did what their country asked of them....