Letters: Readers urge Palm Springs to ‘demand’ Town & Country Center from Grit Development
The Town & Country Center as seen from Indian Canyon Drive in downtown Palm Springs, February 22, 2017. The complex is owned by Wessman Development. Photo: Jay Calderon/The Desert Sun
From the Desert Sun: Get behind Town & Country Center
Re: “Town & Country Center should be part of any Palm Springs/Grit Development settlement” June 29 Valley Voice/Your Turn column by Gary Johns
Kudos to Gary Johns and the Palm Springs Preservation Foundation for proposing a sensible, timely solution to the “conundrum” that has kept this Class 1 Historic Site in limbo and disrepair for years.
Now is the time for our City Council to step up and demand this property, which is so crucial to the heart of our downtown, be included in any settlement. Let’s all get behind this opportunity!
Keith Kincaid, Palm Springs
NM United Team Shop on Central installs new neon sign
From KRQE News 13: ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – Drivers on Central Ave. will notice a new sign lighting up the heart of Nob Hill.
The sign in the shape of the New Mexico United’s shield will be hard to miss at the corner of Central and Carlisle. It went up Wednesday and was made to fit right in with the neighborhood’s neon flare.
“I think it’s really gonna stand out at night and everybody’s gonna wanna come to the store,” Camila Chavez, New Mexico United fan, said.
“I think so many more people are gonna come down here and check out the store, check out, you know, what’s going on, what the store is, and I think fans will be born then and there,” John Luna, another New Mexico United fan, said.
In Downtown Wilmington, Former Serpentarium Set To Be Transformed By 2020
The building that previously housed the Cape Fear Serpentarium (shown in 2017 before the serpentarium closed) has a new owner, and is expected to become a dental practice, medispa and residence. File photo
From Wilmington Biz: Changes to the former Cape Fear Serpentarium property in downtown Wilmington are slated to take place over about seven months.
That’s according to Terry Espy, real estate broker and president of MoMentum Companies, who represented Donald S. Bland in the purchase of the property, which was completed last week.
The purchase price of the property, located at 20 Orange St., was $915,000, according to New Hanover County deeds.
Bland, a longtime dentist in the downtown area, has plans to create a dental practice, medispa and residence out of the Orange Street building, which was once lined with cages that held various types of reptiles, including some of the most venomous snakes in the world.
Institution Ale Denied Exemption for Neon Sign
Institution Ale’s Ryan Smith and son Shaun Smith at the family’s State Street location. Photo: Paul Wellman
Sign Committee Threatens to Fine State Street Brewery $100 a Day Until It’s Removed
From Santa Barbara Independent: At a time when Santa Barbara’s downtown district is in desperate need of revival, the opening of Institution Ale at 516 State Street — a location that had been previously vacant for years — felt like a major win for the city worth celebrating. Two months after the brewery opened its doors, though, its owners were met with what they call a “damper on [their] excitement” from the city.
The owners, father Roger Smith and his sons, Shaun Smith and Ryan Smith, received a “harshly worded” letter in April from the city, telling them that their interior neon sign violated an ordinance that requires it to be set a minimum of 10 feet back from the front window. The letter threatened to charge them $100 a day until it’s removed. The family sought an exemption to keep their sign, and it was denied 2-1 by the Sign Committee on July 2.