Feuds plentiful among downtown business owners
Saturday, August 18, 2007 4:13 PM CDT
BLOOMINGTON -- This is a story of rotten fish and hot wings, urinating on camera and peering through a private window from a public patio. This is downtown Bloomington. | Multimedia & more
The district has all the elements of an award-winning soap opera, but the storyline isn't scripted. One supporter prefers to call the squabbles "growing pains," but some of the arguments have ended up in court and on video.
Trying to re-script the mini-dramas into love stories isn't easy -- everyone has an agenda.
In the meantime, the cameras are rolling: Two of them, mounted from the windows of the Chocolatier candy shop on North Main Street. Owner John Shank set them up to catch people in the act of late-night vandalizing, urinating in public, drinking in the streets and fighting outside bars.
The videos are posted at www.nixbadgovt.org. They're the culmination of Shank's anger over downtown nightlife, particularly at Fat Jack's, the popular nightspot right across the street from his business and residence.
Next door, another fight has brewed.
In a quarrel over the placement of garbage bins in a downtown alley earlier this summer, Daddio's owner Butch Thompson purchased a large truck, filled it with trash and parked it next to the outdoor beer garden at Show Me's restaurant.
Consider it retaliation. Show Me's owner Brian Novotny had purchased the alley behind the two establishments and started charging Thompson and other business owners to place garbage bins there. So, Thompson parked a dump truck next to Novotny's beer garden.
That feud quickly resolved itself, however, after two decaying fish made an appearance in the truck.
Before that, Novotny and longtime downtown developer Fred Wollrab were in a legal battle over Novotny's attempt to build an outdoor patio above his restaurant. The patio would have looked right into the window of one of the apartments Wollrab rents.
That feud also came and went, but what's next?
Peggy Flynn, executive director of the Downtown Bloomington Association, calls the squabbles "growing pains."
"Those are symptoms of a growing downtown," she said. "I welcome those challenges because those are what are going to keep us on our toes and make things better for new investors to come downtown."
Competing agendas
But growing into what?
An entertainment district? A shopping center? A legal hub? The feuds themselves are one more indicator of downtown's divergent directions, and the delicate balance of having competing interests co-exist as neighbors.
Amy Calhoun, owner of the A. Renee wine shop on Center Street, would like to see retail businesses clustered together to make it easier for shoppers. She'd like the lawyers and other professionals to move into the upper floors to free street-level space for storefronts and restaurants.
"Otherwise it will never jive, and we will never have that substance," she said. "We need shop, shop, shop, you know, eatery, shop, shop, shop.
"To have a couple shops, people do not like to have to walk a couple blocks to get to the next one ... I really, strongly feel that if that doesn't change, we will not come to fruition."
But that's not the way developer Steve Parker sees it. He renovated the Paxton building on Washington Street last year and tried to find a national chain to move into the lower level.
It didn't work, and lawyers -- seeking proximity to downtown's Law and Justice Center -- moved in instead.
"It seems to work better than retail. It's a lot more stable environment," he said.
So far, those decisions have been made by the free market: Developers renovate space, tenants rent it, and little thought is given to the overall placement of the businesses.
In hindsight, Mayor Steve Stockton admitted better planning could have meant more fine dining options near the Center for the Performing Arts.
Flynn said that can still happen. Armed with $850,000 to cover five years of expenses, the DBA wants to develop a five-year master plan.
It would provide direction on downtown growth and recommend whether new developments could replace dilapidated buildings.
It could determine the future of retail -- and whether subsidies might attract more tenants.
"And a retail plan has to have a level of incentives for property owners ... otherwise they have to compromise their rent," Flynn said.
It could determine what mix of businesses can best co-exist, and provide a map for long-term planning.
"And we can all work for that purpose," she said.
Downtown: In their words
"Parking is an issue. If I'm having coffee and meeting with my friends, I'm there for more than two hours. It's like they're trying to keep people out." -- Bloomington resident Barbara Schaad, a downtown supporter who doesn't like the two-hour parking limit.
"There's so many shops and food places to go to that are fun and different ... It's like going to Chicago or some urban place. It's a smaller version, more contained, safer." -- Atlanta resident Markie Jo Crisman, who visits downtown once or twice a month.
"(Going downtown is) just not really convenient, but they do have some really cool shops." -- McLean resident Sarah Lyle, a friend of Crisman's.
"I like the feel of the downtown. I like the farmers' market. I like the sense of community. If we want our downtown not to perish, we all are going to need to promote it." -- Michelle Maurer of Bloomington, a downtown shopper and supporter.
"There's just nothing really down there that attracts me." -- Fairbury resident Karen Margherio, while at Bloomington's Eastland Mall, saying she'd shop downtown if it had brand-name department stores.
More: Watch/listen to multimedia interviews and read more stories.
Downtown Bloomington
8,000 -- Estimated daytime population of the area, including workers and residents.
4,000 -- Residents living in "greater downtown," which includes adjacent residential neighborhoods.
130 -- Estimated number of professional services offices.
120 -- Liquor-related ordinance violations in downtown Bloomington in 2006, with the largest problems being public drunkenness and illegal possession or consumption of alcohol.
50 -- Estimated number of retailers.
27 -- Estimated number of service-based businesses, including salons, auto repair shops, tattoo parlors, photography studios, drycleaners, tailors and others.
22 -- Number of liquor licenses issued to downtown taverns and restaurants.
8 -- Percent of downtown commercial property vacant in 2006.
5 -- Percent of downtown commercial property currently vacant.
1 -- Average monthly rent, per square foot, in dollars, for commercial space downtown.
SOURCES: City of Bloomington, Downtown Bloomington Association, Bloomington Police Department and 2006 Bloomington City Directory.
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