Today I noticed that there was major construction activity in one of the three vacant buildings between Lafayette Bank and Trust and 24/7 Fitness. It appears that the interior of this building is being subdivided. If you look carefully at the picture below and try to disregard the reflections of the storefronts on the other side of the street, you might be able to see the studs that have been put into place inside the building. I asked a couple of people who usually know what is happening in the downtown, and neither knew who was planning to move in.
Just in case you do not recognize the building, it is the building with the blue awning in the picture below. Three years ago this was occupied by
Gatherings for a few months and I think it was used by the Republican Party during the 2012 campaign.
Twenty five years ago it was Readmore. I have a picture from the 1980s and it and the building next to it have a "Hardware" sign above them, but I do not remember a hardware store there. What else has it been? (I think the owner of Gatherings said that she was using the
little alley fill-in by Consolidated Insurance for storage.)
Serenity Health and Wellness now has a window sign.
I noticed a new sign on an old business. The
old sign read, "Theraputic Touch Message."
If you look to the left in the picture above, you see a small space for rent. Next to it and just out of the picture is another small space that will soon be opening as
Ardent Papers Photography. The owner currently has an office hidden away in the building around the corner, in with Land Title Agency, Cornerstone Real Estate, and Manpower. The space gives her a window and will make her business much more visible. I am looking forward to the open house.
Several days ago the
Rensselaer Republican had an article about Taco Bell coming the the I-65/SR 114 interchange and opening this summer. Taco Bell has already joined the Chamber of Commerce. It is good to see something new at the interchange.
This winter reminds me of winters in Minnesota where weeks would often
go by without getting above freezing. The forecast says we are
going to get several more inches of snow in the next few days. As we continue to get very cold weather, I have been watching the
ice cover on the Great Lakes. Lake Superior is close to freezing over but Lake Michigan still has
some water well above freezing in the middle.
6 comments:
I may be wrong on this, but I recall the Readmore as the piece of the bank building that is for sale. I recall them buying it and expanding the bank into it long before it was Lafayette Bank and Trust.
The building with the blue awning is going to be the new office of Dr Sheets. We should be opening mid to late February.
I enjoy your local news and Real writing.
Thanks.
Pat Toben
Even though the local historical records state the store was only as big as the dollar general (now 24-7 club fit) I believe this building was at one time part of Harvey's Dime store. When my husband and I bought this building in 2001, there were clothing racks downstairs, faded rainbow-colored pegboard with display hooks on the walls, and the service desk for an office was still there, where we found some faded stray sales stickers for Harvey's in the drawer. The downstairs portion of the building had been joined with the building to the west, which at the time was (no relation) Harvey's Copy Shop -- though the upstairs had not been joined. We theorized both our building and the copy shop building's downstairs had been joined to Harvey's and later separated back out. Does anyone remember the store being that big? -- It's good to see this building continuing to improve along with the rest of downtown.
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