Bank of Carbondale Building

 The empty Bank of Carbondale building on East Main has either rented or sold as there is a large sign replacing the Bank of Carbondale sign proclaiming the building is now the Carbondale Elementary Schools Adminstrative Office building. Glad to see another empty building getting reused.

Harbaugh's Cafe

 I see by their social media posts that downtown staple Harbaugh's Cafe has opened a location in Marion and is currently holding a soft opening with a grand opening sometime in September.  Glad to see they are dooing well enough to have a second location.

Moka Coffeehouse

 Looks as if downtown Carbondale will get a new coffeehouse in the near future.  No opening date posted yet but signage is up for Moka Coffeehoue in the empty Geologic Oddities space in University Plaza on S. Illinois.

Lighting

 I see new lighting has been installed and turned on in the alley next to Aban Kitchen, to adi with customer pickups and in Friendship Part at the intersection of Mill and Illinois.   If I remember correctly, the plan is to install similar lighting next to Rips' Pizza and in the alley between So Ill Syndicate and Yesteryear's Tobaccoist, making an outside dining spot for Cristaudo's.

Alley Lighting

 Remember the T-Mobile grant Carbondale Main Street got last year to upgrade lighting in some parts of downtown Carbondale?  Judge Services finished work on the first project, the alley running just north of Aban Kitchen, criss crossing overhead strings of lights from Illinois Avenue to Pickle's Alley. Have not seen them turned on yet so have no idea how bright they are.

Aban Kitchen uses the alley as a pick up location for their to-go orders adn the new lighting will make it brighter for customers waiting in the alley and safer for staff members bringing out the orders. There are two more locations in town scheduled for similar upgrades.

Rip's Pizza For Sale

 Just after announcing the business was shifting to 2 nights a week, the owner posted yesterday that they have found some other business opportunities and is putting the pizzeria up for sale. That makes 2 restaurants with good name recognition in town available:  Rip's and Thai Taste. Anyone buying Rips would have to compete with at least 7 other pizza places in town while there is only one Thai restaurant.

Parking

 One way the city could make downtown more welcoming is getting rid of the parking kiosks. Parking meters were originally put into downtown to stop students from parking close to campus, leaving their cars all day and avoiding the need for a parking sticker.  With the loss of large parking areas in downtown (farewell 710 Bookstore parking lot), and the drop in student population, the original need for them has vanished and parking meters are now just another revenue source for the city. I wonder if the new parking kiosks even generate enough revenue to pay for the cost of putting them in and maintaining them.

Thai Taste

 Downtown staple Thai Taste went on the market today for $580,000.  Price includes the restaurant, equiptment and building with two upstairs apartments.  20% down payment with a 30 mortage at approximately 6%. In business since 2004. The current owner wants to move on but has no plans to close the restaurant.

One of my favorite sit down restaurants in Carbondale.

Drainage

 I drove though a few of the spots that have been problematic in heavy rains during this afternoon's downpour and was happy to see no flooding.  Either the rain was less than in the past or the city has improved the drainage system in those area.

Stix

 From the agenda for this week's city council meeting, it looks as if the owner is planning to do work on the long shuttered Stix building. I certainly hope so as that would be one fewer building getting dilpaidated in the downtown area.

Also on the agenda is a similar request for a TIF agreement at 213 N. Washington, just south of the  WDBX radio station. and for 108 East Oak, which is the WDBX station.  Since these TIF requests are all part of the consent agenda, unless a council member requests an item get considered individually, they will all get passed with one motion. 

SauSea's

SauSea's Seafood was scheduled to open yesterday. However, according to this post on their Facebook page, soem internal problems have caused them to postpone the reopening until next Wednesday, May 27.

SauSea's

 According to their social media, SauSea's Restaurant on south Illinois will reopen on May 20th.  Apparently the restaurant is connected with the Paducah Fish Market, meaning they have a consistant source of fresh fish for the menu.  Hopefully the restaurant lasts longer this time than last and I also hop they put up a sign on Illinois Avenue indicating there is parking behind the building. If you do not know it is there, that parking is easy to miss.

Chilly Jilly's

 Chilly Jilly's, the new ice cream shop in downtown Carbondale, had a soft opening this past Tuesday. Current hours are 8 a.m. to 1p.m. and from 4 to 8 p.m.  We will see how long the 8 a.m opening time lasts as I do not think many people are looking for ice cream at 8 in the morning but they cold have offerings that would appeal to customers at that hour.  I saw they offered a special Yummy Donuts ice cream sandwich, a split doughnut with a scoop of ice cream between the halves.

Horstmans Cleaners

 If you missed it, Horstman's Cleaners, a fixture of downtown Carbondale since 1925, has closed permanently. The demand for dry cleaning has dropped markedly over the past couple of decades and, as workers age out of employment, dry cleaners are replacing them with robots.  The price of roboticized dry cleaning has also dropped. whereas it used to be that it was only cost efficient for dry cleaners with a staff of 100 or more to add robots, they are cheap enough now that cleaners that would employ a staff of 10 can do so.

From wnat I have heard, some of the equiptment Horstman's used also broke down and it is not cost efficient to replace it. Whatever the reason, another bit of Carbondale history is gone.

Ice Cream

 Looks like a dip ice cream parlor is going in next to downtown's Yummy Donuts. Cannot read the name on the sign while driving, it is  a good idea to make your sign with easily readable fonts, but it is Chilly Something. Construction is still going on but looks as if it will open by summer.

Hawthorne Art

 Hawthorne Art has closed its gallery and event space though the buiness will be active online.  Appears not enough demand for  an additional event venue in Carbondale

Cellar

 Not sure what is going on with the Cellar. It was listed for sale earlier this year but the page has been taken down. Maybe the owner is reconsidering the asking price as over $2 million seems a wee bit steep.  

Downtown Photo

 Very nice aerial photo of downtown Carbondale taken earlier today, it appears. A few things really strike me from the image:

1. Carbondale has a Main Street, not a town square. If you look at the image, you can only find the square if you know here to look. Meanwhile, Illinois Avenue is clearly visible .

2. Downtown ends at the railroad tracks. Of course there is more town to the east but the demarcation of the two sections is striking.

3. For a city that has its own arborist and prides itself on its trees, they are strikingly sparse in downtown. Conversely, if you did not know there were neighborhoods to the east and west of downtown, it would be easy to miss them due to the tree cover. The last of trees and the amount of asphalt in downtown creates a lot of heat during the summer months.

Tonic HeadQuarters

 Tonic HeadQuarters announced on Facebook the business will shutter its Freeman Ave. location on December 23 and reopen Jan 5th next to SI Tanning Company in the Grand Avenue Shopping Center. Sorry to see another downtown business leave but now Quatros can expand further and make a bigger bar.

Carbondale Main Street Contest

 Carbondale Main Street is currently running a contest. Find the store with the Santa Saluki and fill out an entry form for a chance to win some of a pool $500 worth of gift cards from downtown stores.  if you read this, one of the Santa Salukis is at Castle Perilous until this Friday.