16 FEB 05: UP BY THE RIVERSIDE
The Phenix City Council approved a major plan for downtown redevelopment Tuesday. It will cost tens of millions of dollars, mean a lot of construction - and when it's all over, buying a car in Phenix City probably will be harder than ever.
The map shown on TV is quite detailed about what's planned for downtown Phenix City in years to come:
+ An expanded Russell County Courthouse. There's one obvious reason for this -- to provide extra room for Judge Al Howard's ego.
+ A new campus for Chattahoochee Valley Community College. C.V.C.C. already has a main campus in south Phenix City and something small on the 280 Bypass -- so why build this downtown? To say you have as many campuses as Southern Union?
+ Renovations to the Phenix Plaza shopping center. Only the most state-of-the-art Family Dollar store will do....
+ An unnamed "new restaurant" west of Broad Street. Well, this IS one part of the area which doesn't have a Waffle House.
+ A "new supermarket" with an unknown name on 14th Street. Considering Phenix City has lost two nice grocery stores in the last three years, I'm wondering if a flea market might attract a bigger crowd.
(OK, Columbus transplants -- this is the moment we've been waiting for! Let's start a flood of e-mails to Kroger headquarters in Cincinnati, and get the grocery prices down around here....)
One big issue in the debate over downtown Phenix City is the future of the Riverview Apartments. They're being turned into a "mixed-use" housing development. Of course, the old apartment also fit that description - as some people used them for living, while others used them for committing crimes.
A man complained to me several years ago Phenix City Police made it a habit to arrest people walking out of the Riverview Apartments. I've never confirmed whether or not that's true - but I hardly ever see anyone walking on the old 14th Street bridge.
Critics of the downtown Phenix City project call it a government land grab, which hurts private land ownership. But I doubt city officials will go too far with this. The KFC at 13th and Broad simply is too convenient a lunch spot for government employees.
Now other Tuesday topics, from both sides of the river:
+ WXTX "Fox-54" presented a "To Serve and Protect" plaque to a Columbus police officer. It looks like someone has been reading Columbus Councilor Gary Allen's e-mails [8 Feb] - but couldn't A-Com Security give some of its sponsorship money to the officer, too?
+ Members of the Alabama National Guard landed at Fort Benning, returning home from Iraq. One of them admitted the thing he missed most was Wal-Mart. [True/WXTX] Some of us would consider this a good reason to take a short-term Iraqi job.
+ Mike Gaymon of the Columbus Chamber of Commerce admitted due to increased traffic, a ride across town which used to take 15 minutes "now takes 20." It's not because speeders on the J.R. Allen Parkway aren't trying....
+ The Georgia House passed a bill giving farmers a tax exemption, if they set aside land for "corn mazes." How ironic would this be? It's state government providing a tax break, if you build an illustration of how state government works.
+ WFRC-FM finally came back on the air, 17 days after the ice storm. It returned with Family Radio in the middle of a "letter month" for listeners to contact the network. Letters asking about the slow work of the technical team probably are discouraged.
BURKARD'S BEST BETS: Gas falls to $1.67 a gallon at Dolly Madison on Victory Drive.... 20-ounce sodas for 33 cents with a Walgreens coupon.... and half-price Valentine chocolate at Target has some of us truly seeing red....
COMING THIS WEEK: This could be the most unusual "quitting business" sale we've ever seen....
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