Some building news

Do you recognize what this is? Answer later.

 The building trades house on Scott Street south of Harrison now has roof trusses. At the beginning of the school year it was not much more than a foundation.

This past week city workers were installing a storm sewer line on Vine Street in front of the Knights of Columbus Hall.

 I was surprised at how much progress has been made at the Comfort Suites since I was out there a month ago.  There were two cranes and a lot of workers on the site.

 Below is the view from the other side. As I was taking pictures, the owner's father drove up to see what I was doing and then the owner showed up. We had a nice talk. They said that when they poured the concrete slab, they poured 16,000 square feet in one day starting at 4:30 and using loads from 23 cement trucks. The building will have one more floor. They are pushing construction to get the building enclosed and roofed before the weather turns bad.

On the way out I noticed that the route of the water main had been marked and flags for other utilities were in place. The construction of that project should start in the next week or two. I also noticed that a five acre lot next to McDonalds had a for sale sign. I was told it had been for sale for some time but I do not recall noticing before.

If you guessed that the first picture was the excavation for the retention (or detention) pond for the new fire station, you guessed correctly. The progress does not seem as fast here as at the Comfort Suites, but some of the floor is in place and other parts of the floor look ready for a concrete pour.

Dale;s Steak and Chop Shop announced on Facebook that it is closing.  Their statement: "We would like to say THANK YOU and have GREAT APPRECIATION for our faithful supporters we have had the past 2 years!! Due to the dramatic decline of support--we have to close our doors. We will be open until we sell all our products. Once again Thanks to those who have supported us--we appreciate you!!"

Retail is hard. It is very difficult for small retail stores to compete in a world of large corporate chains or franchises. Sorry to see another small business close.

Speaking of closing, I heard early this week that Bartlett Chevrolet in Brookston has closed but I cannot find anything to confirm that on the Internet.