The Carbondale Observer

Construction of a new gated community is under way on New Era Road. The Villas of Carbondale will contain fifty retirement residences. Ten percent of the residences will be reserved for extremely low income seniors, 86 percent of the units will go to low income seniors, and the remaining four percent will be available at market rate. Read the rest of this entry »

The Daily Egyptian had a great article last week on the nearly rebuilt Hangar 9. I walked past the new building a few days ago and it looks like the exterior is coming together.  I couldn’t see inside but I did notice the floor for the upstairs mezzanine was in place before the front wall was finished. The D.E. article said Hangar’s goal is to be open before the end of November.

I’m really glad Hangar is coming back. The old pole barn was ugly on the outside, but it was a good size to see a live show and a lot of good touring musicians played shows there. The new building is going to be larger and it won’t be a pole barn so I’m going to call that an improvement.  You can see drawings and floor plans for the new building in the Hangar 9.2 folder on Hangar’s Facebook page.

On the other hand, I don’t like the fence enclosing the beer garden.  In the drawings it looks like there will be slats (of wood?) facing the street and a chain link fence behind that, with vines trained to grow up the wall.

It looks pretty cool viewed from the inside, but I don’t know if it’s a good idea to build a wall between the street and your business.  I realize they had to enclose the beer garden, but it would have been nice to have an enclosure that allowed patrons to see out and pedestrians to see in.

Maybe the city council/liquor control commission  wouldn’t permit a more “open” fence like the one enclosing Booby’s beer garden.  I have sometimes wondered whether the wall between Melange and the street contributed to its downfall.  A wall or an opaque fence says “you aren’t welcome here.”

In spite of the opaque wall around the beer garden, the new Hangar will fill a void on the strip and it will be a great venue for live music.  That’s good for Carbondale.  Here are two more photos:

Comments are welcome.

Work is moving ahead on the new police station on the old Lincoln School site. The foundation is in place and some of the steel beams are up.

The drawings for the building look pretty attractive.  Check them out on the city’s website.

The building itself cost $7.02 million, but the city issued bonds for $8 million to furnish the building and cover unexpected expenses.

The Police Department is currently housed in some converted dorms on East College.  The new facility is centrally located and will be earthquake resistant.

The city also recently bought the eastern portion of the old Lincoln School site.  The plan is to keep that area as a park. I haven’t heard what the new park will be called or what the design will be.

Lincoln Street forms the eastern boundary of the site, so I suggest Lincoln Square for the name. The people in charge of naming the park are welcome to use that name without giving me credit.

The area is already set up for softball and basketball.  Adding some benches, landscaping, and restrooms would really spruce it up.

Comments are welcome.