April has flown by

April has flown by and it was a cruel month. The magnolias are now blooming.

Paving is scheduled to begin this week. Last week sod was laid next to the new concrete curbs and sidewalk along Grace Street. Several streets were milled, including parts of Kannal, Milroy, and Jackson.  Below is a picture of a truck watering the newly-laid sod. In it you can see the new curbs and sidewalk and the milled street.

The Indiana Department of Transportation announced that this week the new lanes will be opening on I-65 at Lafayette. The announcement is here. INDOT Northwest announced changes to the schedule for repairing the bridge on SR 231 over the Iroquois River north of Rensselaer. The work will begin at the end of July and the bridge will be restricted to one lane with a traffic signal directing traffic.

Tree cutting should be mostly done. Over 60 large trees, mostly ash, were removed. Below is part of a large maple that was on Front Street.

The work on the water main at the end of Milroy is not yet finished. There are a variety of other utilities under the street and great care must be taken in excavating. It appeared that the workers were using a jet of water to remove the dirt around some of the pipes. I hope the water main never springs a leak there or it will be a nightmare to fix.

SJC has announced more details of what it sees as its future. It wants to start a two-year program with Marian University as a partner. It also has a list of buildings it considers essential for its renewal. With the exception of Justin Hall, the other dorms do not make the list. Halleck Center was also not on the list. See the SJC website for more.

The Parks Department held its delayed Spring Fling on Saturday and the cold, windy weather discouraged people from attending. I think they shut down early because when I returned at 11:00 everyone was gone and the inflatables were deflated.

Greene's Furniture is for sale. If it closes, Rensselaer will be without a furniture store for the first time in over a century.

Finally, I noticed a fisherman on the Iroquois on Sunday. It seemed to be such a peaceful scene that I could not resist taking a picture.