Some highlights from 2017

The biggest news from 2017 was the closing of Saint Joseph's College. The announcement was made on February 3rd, only a few weeks after the College had a ribbon cutting for its new Shoppes in Halleck Center. The closing then led to transfer fairs and job fairs and a series of lasts: last play, last concerts, last Little 500, and last graduation. In the summer barricades went up to shut off the campus and in the fall there was a large sale of equipment that lasted for weeks followed by an auction.

There was happier news. An expanded Marathon station opened on North McKinley. A new O'Reilly Auto Parts store was constructed at Kannal and College. Downtown, the Station at Embers opened, as did the Fenwick Farms Brewing Company and Endless Treasure. The Sayler Apartments on Elza Street were finally finished and opened to tenants.

Downtown also saw closings. Doggers and the Pub III are no more and Stunt Dawg is also gone. The Bowling Alley will sit idle this winter. Some businesses and offices that moved include Paul's Auto Repair, E-Zea Detailing, American Rentals, the Jasper County Impact Office, WIC, and Birthright. Superior Sales and Service built an addition to an existing building on North McKinley and moved to it in mid December. Strack and Van Til changed ownership.

In City and State projects, a section of Grace Street was rebuilt, the high rate treatment plant was finished, old water wells on Bunkum Road were capped, a new electrical substation on Bunkum Road was constructed, and the deck of the Washington Street Bridge was rebuilt.

Two adventures in which this blogger was a participant were Aviation Career Day and the ribbon cutting for a grave marker for Eleanor Stackhouse Atkinson, an author of some renown who was born and buried in Rensselaer.

During the year the way was cleared for connecting a water well on Sparling to the City water works and for constructing a second solar farm, this one north of Rensselaer. They should be in the highlight post a year from now.

I am sure I have missed a few things that should be included, but even with what I remembered, it has been an eventful year.

(Here are highlights from 2016)