It was a very busy and productive month for the downtown. Maxwell Street Days and Summer Fair on the Square opened the activity, and we saw the end of a wonderful Concert Series, each with minor rain inconveniences. All the while, Streetscape chugged on, also with some rain delays, unfortunately.
Two full E & N Hughes crews are in active duty, racing against time and nature.
Todd Hughes is leading his crew across the south side, taking out sidewalk and street to connect the buildings to their new water line. The second crew is working north from Corner Café to accomplish the same task. And on the northwest corner, the concrete work continues to make progress daily.
I must confess this has not been the experience I expected. I was told there would be surprises by streetscape veterans in my Main Street world, but I never imagined what 60 years of buried utilities could turn up. Nor did I figure on the other entities that would jump on the construction bandwagon, including storm sewer work on the northwest and southwest corners, along with new gas lines and TDS fiberoptic installations. The School District of Monroe decided this might be a good summer to redo its parking lot. Baumgartner's, Chopsticks and Julie's Bridal saw tuck pointing as good projects, as did Green County government in taking good care of our downtown landmark, the courthouse. Currently, Century 21 Zwygart Realty and WHY USA, Hedeman Real Estate both are making façade improvements. Can it get any busier downtown?
Yes, it can. Traffic still is flowing as promised. Admittedly, there are times the dump trucks and back hoes outnumber pedestrians on the street, but people are there, watching this piece of history unfold from the comfort of Chocolate Temptation, Café Claudeen, Baumgartner's, Ruf's, and Kookaburra's, whether they got there through the front door or through the rear. And, as I have witnessed, in cars that travel the inner lane ever so slowly so as not to miss the "dance of the backhoes" that has become a new source of entertainment.
Life is going on daily in the downtown. It's been an amazing transformation to witness and even more interesting to listen to the opinions shared with me on how it's going. "You think they will be done by Cheese Days?" is my favorite question. The answer is Yes. "When are they closing the whole Square off to finish?" is another good one. Well, we're Not.
Change is not embraced by anyone easily, and as I've discovered, very easily speculated on by "experts" in the field. Change is a scary situation for each of us. But, it is going to occur anyway, and if met with fortitude leads to new opportunity. Were this not the case, we'd be known for failed wheat fields instead of being the Master Cheesemaker Center of the United States.
Take the time and challenge to come downtown to witness this streetscape work. It will not soon happen again. Not in my time anyway, I'm certain (and grateful).
Main Street has a smaller version dump truck present at a different location downtown every day. Find it, and you can sign up for the weekly Friday drawing of cash, goods and services that have been contributed by businesses throughout downtown and far beyond. This promotion has shown more than any other how supportive our community is to seeing this project through. Don't miss your chance to find the wooden dump truck and engage in our own totally Monroe Stimulus Package. And, when you see me on the street, you can ask where it is that day, but I'm not going to tell!
- Barb Nelson is director of Monroe Main Street. She writes a monthly update on the organization for the Monroe Times. She can be reached at 328-4023.
Two full E & N Hughes crews are in active duty, racing against time and nature.
Todd Hughes is leading his crew across the south side, taking out sidewalk and street to connect the buildings to their new water line. The second crew is working north from Corner Café to accomplish the same task. And on the northwest corner, the concrete work continues to make progress daily.
I must confess this has not been the experience I expected. I was told there would be surprises by streetscape veterans in my Main Street world, but I never imagined what 60 years of buried utilities could turn up. Nor did I figure on the other entities that would jump on the construction bandwagon, including storm sewer work on the northwest and southwest corners, along with new gas lines and TDS fiberoptic installations. The School District of Monroe decided this might be a good summer to redo its parking lot. Baumgartner's, Chopsticks and Julie's Bridal saw tuck pointing as good projects, as did Green County government in taking good care of our downtown landmark, the courthouse. Currently, Century 21 Zwygart Realty and WHY USA, Hedeman Real Estate both are making façade improvements. Can it get any busier downtown?
Yes, it can. Traffic still is flowing as promised. Admittedly, there are times the dump trucks and back hoes outnumber pedestrians on the street, but people are there, watching this piece of history unfold from the comfort of Chocolate Temptation, Café Claudeen, Baumgartner's, Ruf's, and Kookaburra's, whether they got there through the front door or through the rear. And, as I have witnessed, in cars that travel the inner lane ever so slowly so as not to miss the "dance of the backhoes" that has become a new source of entertainment.
Life is going on daily in the downtown. It's been an amazing transformation to witness and even more interesting to listen to the opinions shared with me on how it's going. "You think they will be done by Cheese Days?" is my favorite question. The answer is Yes. "When are they closing the whole Square off to finish?" is another good one. Well, we're Not.
Change is not embraced by anyone easily, and as I've discovered, very easily speculated on by "experts" in the field. Change is a scary situation for each of us. But, it is going to occur anyway, and if met with fortitude leads to new opportunity. Were this not the case, we'd be known for failed wheat fields instead of being the Master Cheesemaker Center of the United States.
Take the time and challenge to come downtown to witness this streetscape work. It will not soon happen again. Not in my time anyway, I'm certain (and grateful).
Main Street has a smaller version dump truck present at a different location downtown every day. Find it, and you can sign up for the weekly Friday drawing of cash, goods and services that have been contributed by businesses throughout downtown and far beyond. This promotion has shown more than any other how supportive our community is to seeing this project through. Don't miss your chance to find the wooden dump truck and engage in our own totally Monroe Stimulus Package. And, when you see me on the street, you can ask where it is that day, but I'm not going to tell!
- Barb Nelson is director of Monroe Main Street. She writes a monthly update on the organization for the Monroe Times. She can be reached at 328-4023.
