Well hon, in the blink of an eye, it seems, we’re in the middle o’ fall, and effen the leaves aren’t giving yew the autumnal vibe, the fack that we will be in Standard time in a mere two weeks ought to do it. Of course, for m’self the going back to Standard Time (spring ahead, fall back) is a nice time o’ the year, and for someone like me who don’t sleep so good, a great way to get 20 or so winks. Before yew know it, and I can see the eyes roll back in your noggin, it’ll be Christmastime and the white stuff will be falling.
Here in the Asylum by the Sea, the big news of the week seems to be an announcement about a new plan for downtown. Now, we mentioned this in the last missive, and Sammy Bluejay and I were reminiscing about all the times downtown projects were announced. We seem to remember at least four over the last half-century or so, and not one o’ them really came about.
This might be the charm, Herronner seems to be rawther single minded when it comes to doing things and gets people whipped into shape. Sammy, who happened to be perched nearby, sez that the plan is lookin’ to include the former Masonic Lodge/Arts Center/forlorn building into some type of multi-purpose building with maybe an arts component.
This thing concerning that locale has been announced and reannounced and reannounced at least three times, and here we are some two decades later, and the thing is still standing there partially deconstructed with the stuff that was done more than 15 years ago.
Sammy sez that the interesting thing is t’was a Borer who announced the project soooo many years ago and now it’ll be another Borer who’ll maybe, possibly git the job done. Such is the way things around here go.
Need we remind yew of all the projecks over the years that were given big announcements over the years with press conferences and the like:
~~ There was the Water Street Project, that morphed into the West River Project, that morphed into the 5 Water Street Project, that morphed eventually to the Haven Project. That was in 1997 and was ballyhooed like none other. When this office was still on Savin Avenue, our walls were papered with front pages concerning the announcement, the reannouncement, the new announcement.. yew git the drift;
~~ There was the Sawmill Road project that was done – eventually – but kids who were in foist grate when it was announced were graduating when it was finished;
~~ There was the UNH Law School Project that was gonna be on the site of the former Armstrong Rubber Company;
~~ Projects that were finished, including the new high school saw many years betwixt announcement and completion. In the case of the high school, it was only about five or six years, which in this berg is no time;
~~ The Stop & Shop building was an up-and-down thing that seemed at one pernt never to be completely on the boards. And back then, the city had no, count ‘em no, supermarkets within its borders;
~~ The most recent problem was the brewery projeck and it follied the same pattern: big announcement, lull in the action cuz of behind-the-scenes stuff, problems, re-announcement, and then a pull-out by the developer.
Effen the new administration – now almost a year old, can pull the city outta the recurring scenario that seems to plague all projecks, it’ll be a change of direction that will benefit the entire future. That might seem like a bridge too far, but maybe not!
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Speakin’ o’ projecks, Nelly Nuthatch came over to report that the new restaurant over on Beach Street at the former Chick’s site is over the foist phase effen setting pilings is considered the foist phase. Yup, pilings were driven into the ground to support the building, which is par for the course in this shoreline community. Most things along our coast and even farther inland cuz of marshes, underground springs etc., hafta be piledriven so the buildings don’t sink into the muck.
There’s bedrock down there, but it might be as much as 30 to 40 feet down. From whot Nelly sez, the developers are kind o’ hopin’ for a Memorial Day weekend opening at this juncture, and once the foundation is put down and the construction started, they might jest be able to do it! Private developers, unlike city-based developments, seem to take less time once the work actually starts.
But having said that, Cobina is still impressed with the Washington School project. That thing seems to be going up at or close to schedule, which is always a marvel for a publick project.
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Staying on projecks (it seems that is all that is going on around here sometimes), the Haven project, mentioned above as something that has been going on now for 27 years(!) is still laying fallow along the stretch from Elm Street to Main Street. We had hoid that there was some talk of reopening Water Street again to help with traffic at rush hour – it does git rawther dicey down there – but that hasn’t happened and probably won’t.
What is happening with the developers is anyone’s guess cuz they don’t tell the city no matter how much they git harangued. Y’see, they think we’re from the provinces and that we don’t have a right to know what they’re doing.
Tennyrate, the only thing that seems to be going on is rumors. There were rumors that one developer was interested in the whole expanse of the thing. Then there were rumors that the whole expanse was gonna be cut up into parcels and sold piecemeal.
But like anything that happens with that project, the only thing we are hearing is rumors. No one really knows what’s happening, and effen they do know, they aren’t letting on that anything is happening.
And, because it is hanging like black cloud over all of us, whatever happens down there might be affected by the state projeck to rebuild the two bridges on I=95 – the one over the railroad tracks and the First Avenue bridge.
The state announced the project about three months ago, and it was still in the planning stages. Here we are in October and nothing yet. The whole thing is gonna take about 27 months to complete by the Department of Transportation schedule. That’s gonna make travel around here even more harrowing that is usually is.
Nobody is lookin’ forward to this turn of events, and we all hope that it turns into something other than the pain in the neck (and other places) that we all think it is going to be.
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The Wag was happy we had a story last isshew concerning the upgrade of the windows at the The Actors Colony, otherwise known as City Hall. He was tooling around in his vehicle and noticed the cherry-picker that was parked on the lawn and was wondering what was going on.
Of course, he always called the building “the house that Al built.” The building was constructed under Mayor Alexander Zarnowski, but was really planned earlier. Tennyrate, it was originally planned as a two-story shanty, but a thoid floor was added. That little tidbit explains some o’ the many problems they had with the building over its lifetime. One wonders what engineering sleight of hand was used to accommodate this change.
The window have always been a problem due to the settling that happens with all buildings, but when it’s carrying more weight than maybe was anticipated it explains a whole lot.
Of course, the funny money from the ARCA was used. Yeah, that funny money.
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October being October, there are two special events only days from each other. We have our Hispanic of the Year announcement and our Italian of the Year announcement – it being Columbus Day weekend. Yeah, we still call it Columbus Day around here, the wokesters can scream all they want.
Things like this don’t divide us like some people want to think. They show the various cultures that we have in these parts. There will always be the naysayers, and this berg has more than its share.
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When next we correspond, honeybunch we will be jest days from the election. And truth to tell, this has been one quiet affair here in God’s Li’l Acre. Usually elections of any stripe are reasons for big brouhahas – or at least used to be. This year, not so much.
Cobina ain’t sure whether she likes the new quiet, or craves the insanity that used to accompany heading to the polls. Yew git what I mean!
Tennyrate, time marches on and we’ll be heading toward the final days of the presidential campaign that seems to go on endlessly. It’ll be interesting to see what the tallies are here cuz they sometimes don’t follow the trends in other parts of the state, we being a blue-collar community and all.
Well we will find out soon enuff.
With that bit o’ chatter, I’ll close this time till next, mitt luff und kizzez,