54-year-old 10th Avenue South shop all tired out

Link to January 31 Great Falls Tribune article.

Excerpt:

The main building, barracks from what was then the U.S. Air Force's East Base, haven't been updated much since they were placed on a concrete foundation there decades ago. There are patches of mud in the asphalt parking lot and the paint on that sign — the one with the smiling red-suited service man saluting — is faded.

But the loyal assemblage of patrons of the shop, which opened in June 1954 when 10th Avenue South was a two-lane highway headed out of town, knew differently.

And now, they are in mourning.

City’s Focus Expands To Include Neighborhood Revitalization

Link to January 25 Jamestown Post-Journal article.

Excerpt: Jamestown has long focused on downtown revitalization. While that's still an area of importance for the city, neighborhood revitalization has seemingly taken on a life of its own in recent years - at least two citizen groups have formed; the city's Strategic Planning and Partnerships Commission has said it wants to have the creation of a five-year strategic plan for neighborhood revitalization under way by the end of this year and the city's Housing Subcommittee has recently undertaken an effort to place tougher restrictions on landlords and tenants of rental properties across the city.

City Seeks Stimulus Stipend

Link to January 24 Jamestown Post-Journal article.

Excerpt:

Mayor Sam Teresi said Thursday the city has asked for federal stimulus money so it can reconstruct Fifth and Sixth streets between Prendergast Avenue and the Sixth Street bridge and overhaul the Spring Street parking deck. Together, Teresi said the projects will cost about $3.5 million.

Money On Its Way

Link to January 13 Jamestown Post-Journal article.

Excerpt:

The state Department of Transportation has agreed to provide up to $80,000 for a project that city officials hope will turn the vacant Gateway Station on Second Street into a major downtown hub.

Rolling Ålong At 50

Link to January 6 Warren Times Observer.

Excerpt:
The history of the alley dates to the summer of 1958 when John Young, Martha's husband, and business partner Fred Baldensperger, bought the Commercial Lumber sawmill in the westside of Warren on Struthers Street, where they began to build their business.

The 16 alleys were handmade floor boards designed by stacking 60-foot-long hard maple two by fours on end and nailing them together to make 42-inch wide lanes.

"We are still bowling on the original lanes today," said Martha Young. "You can't tell how old they are. They look as good as the day they were made."

The alley opened in January 1959 with a record number of games - 2,236 - on the first day and bowling balls were given away as door prizes.

That year, the cost was three games for a dollar or one for 35 cents.

Fifth, Forbes poised to turn the corner

Link to January 4 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article.

Excerpt:

Don't put away the champagne just yet. In 2009, there finally might be something to celebrate in Downtown's Fifth and Forbes corridor, long plagued by boarded-up storefronts and low-end retail.

After the collapse of high-profile city-led redevelopment efforts over the past decade, the corridor appears poised to turn the corner, with the completion of several projects that could reshape Downtown in ways not seen since Renaissance II more than two decades ago.

The latest resurgence, totaling more than $300 million, will be built on housing, with nearly 140 units to be finished this year, as well as a mix of office and retail space.

Next month, the first residents will be moving into luxury condominiums at Piatt Place, the former Lazarus-Macy's store, at Fifth Avenue and Wood Street. About four months later, the Three PNC Plaza building, also on Fifth, Downtown's first new skyscraper since 1987, will be greeting its first tenant, the Reed Smith law firm.

By late July, the new Downtown YMCA will open in the former G.C. Murphy store on Fifth, and the first of 46 apartment residents will be settling in, as part of a $40 million transformation.

Development news (8-20-2008)