Sidetracks Demolished

In case you missed the news today, Carbondale's iconic bar, Sidetracks, got demolished today to make way for downtown parking. Despite the way it sounds, there really wasn't much choice in the matter. The bar's lease expires in 2019 and the railroad, on whose right of way the Sidetracks building sat, had already said it would not renew the lease as the building sat too close to the tracks for safety.

So, Sidetracks gets help from the city to move across the street into new digs in the old Gatsby's building, the city gets some much needed downtown parking just in time for all of the expected visitors coming into town for the Great American Eclipse and the railroad has one less liability it has to worry about. Save for the fact that Carbondale has one less unique building, and there was no really feasible way to move the building, everybody comes out ahead.

City Council Meeting

I am a bit late commenting on last week's city council meeting but better late than ever, says I. Most of what took place was covered on the consent agenda. I came in too late to catch the first part of the meeting but there were a few interesting items on it.

$29,500 contract awarded to Rawson Excavating for demolishing the old Sidetracks building. The building sits what is today considered an unsafe distance from the railroad tracks, so the railroad declined to renew the lease, causing Sidetracks, now renamed Trax, to relocate to new digs in the old Gatsby's building. The demolished area will become more downtown parking.

Resolution authorizing the city manager to purchase materials, property, services etc. from Henry Printing. Yes, owned by our Mayor Henry. I assume this was discussed prior to my arrival at the meeting and figure they wanted to get an authorization by council on the record approving    potential purchases from the mayor's printing company.

$27,420 to CivicPlus to update the city website, which, below the front page, apparently hasn't been updated in about 20 years. Also roughly $5000 per year for website maintenance. No idea if this is an open ended contract or not.

Apparently the questions over the parking lot next to the Interfaith Center got answered as the contract for redoing it got awarded to Samron Midwest Contracting.

However the big discussion of the evening is the plan to provide roll out trash carts to all residents of the city. Any city resident who get trash pick up from the city will receive a standardized trash cart. These carts are designed to allow city waste trucks to latch onto and automatically dump them, rather than require a human to pick up the trash and throw it in the truck, speeding up trash pickup.Concerns regarding costs of the receptacles was expressed by some residents as larger families will generate more trash but may have problems paying the cost of the additional receptacle needed. Council agreed to address these concerns before bringing the ordinance up for a final vote

Sidetracks Moving (Sometime)

As discussed in this article in the Southern, Sidetracks will move across the street into the old Gatsby's location sometime in the next year or so. The property on which the bar sits is owned by the railroad, which notified the bar a year or so ago that it would not renew the lease, as the bar building sits too close to the railway tracks to comply with modern safety standards. Sidetracks has slowly moved fixtures and supplies into the old Gatsby's building this year but it appears the process will speed up.

The city will purchase the property from the railroad and demolish the building, adding more parking to the south end of Illinois Avenue and providing easier access to the parking already there.

Downtown Parking

I talk about downtown parking quite a bit so wanted to post about the work  on the public parking behind Reema's Indian Cuisine. The top photo gives an overall view of the Evolve apartments and the Mill Street and University Ave. intersection. The bottom photo shows the work the city is doing upgrading the parking area behind Reema's. From what I understand, in exchange for the easement across Reema's property,  the city will perform maintenance on the parking on Reema's property as well. Unfortunately, access to this parking from the north end is more difficult, as drivers have to steer around the Sidetrack's building or make a 90 degree turn into an alley to access it.

Liquor Advisory Board Meeting

The LAB has a meeting this Thursday next week. A pretty light agenda though, mainly a Fair Days request for the upcoming Carbondale Music Coalition's downtown concert. Also, John Alexander who owns Sidetracks will speak to the LAB. From what I understand, the 99 year lease the owner of the building has on the railroad property on which the Sidetracks building stands will not be renewed when it expires next year, as the railroad wishes to demolish the building since it sits too close to the tracks for today's safety standards, meaning Sidetracks will need to relocate:

Application for a Class F1 liquor license (temporary sales of beer and wine only) for Carbondale Tourism and the Live on Main Concert on Friday, October 9, 2015 to be held on South Illinois Avenue between Elm and College Streets


 Discussion with Mr. John Alexander of Sidetracks

. Liquor Advisory Board Comments


. Citizens’ Comments