Buyers Market for Houses in Carbondale

 According to this, Carbondale is currently a buyer's market for houses with houses typically selling for 4% below asking price, far different from hotter housing markets. Median house price is $48,000 with listing ranging from $5500 to 12 million, though I am not sure where the $12 million listing is located

Memorial Day

 In case you are looking for Memorial Day activities that do not involve swimming or food, St. Francis Xavier will hold a Memorial Day mass at 9 a.m. and then the city will hold its annual Memorial Day celebration at Woodlawn Cemetery at 10 a.m. Will have to check and see if the damaged tombstones ever got repaired. 

Buckminister Fuller

 Since Buckminister Fuller is hailed as one of the great minds of the 20th century, it has always surprised me that Carbondale does not do more to play up the city's connection to him. Near as I can tell, we have 2 geodesic domes on campus, 1 in downtown, the Fuller Dome Home, run by a non-profit which has struggled for funding for years  and one other geodesic dome house a bit further west of the Fuller Home. There is also a mosaic in the sidewalk on South Illinois, one of a few installed as part of the aborted "Stars on Main" project of 2 decades ago.  Why do SIUC and the city not play up the connection they have to one of the few figures of international renown to call the city home? Based upon the attention paid to him and his work in the city, no-one who visits Carbondale would know anything about the city's and university's connection to Fuller.

How about renaming a building or street on campus in his honor? Maybe rename Douglas Drive Fuller Drive? Maybe install a Dymaxion map someplace on campus or in downtown. There is some evidence that art on streets reduces accidents so maybe paint a map at the intersection of Main and Illinois or one of the other major intersections in town. We paint pawprints every year so why not something calling attention to the communities link to Fuller.

Gun Violence Survey

 The city has asked SIUC to conduct a survey of perceived and actual gun violence in Carbondale. You can take it here.  Will take about 5-10 minutes to complete.

I was rather surprised to see the city asking the university to undertake something like this. Usually the city prefers to go with an outside consultant, despite the fact that they have the resources of a major university for the asking.

Stix

 Stix has reopened but looks like very late and limited hours. According to Google, only open Thursday Friday and Saturday and then only 9 p.m. 2 a.m.  As the bard targets students heavily, the end of the semester may not have been the best time to reopen but it does give them the summer to get any bugs worked out.

Pinch Penny Liquors

 Looks like there are some changes in ownership coming to Pinch Penny Liquors. From the upcoming Liquor Control Commission meeting agenda, scheduled for May 24th at 6 p.m.

2 Approval of a Change in Officers for PPL, Inc. d/b/a Pinch Penny Liquors, Located at 701 East Grand Avenue

Gopuff

 Looks as if the Carbondale GoPuff has shuttered after less than a year. The shelves inside the location at the corner of Main and Oakland are empty and the website no longer lists Carbondale as a location.

Multi Modal Center

 From the presentation at today's Chamber of Commerce lunch, it looks as if the multimodal center may break ground sometime this fall or next spring, with the facility completed sometime in 2024. SIUC will have a welcome station in the facility and the Chamber of Commerce, Carbondale Tourism and Carbondale Main Street offices will all move into the facility.  Busses will enter from South Illinois, pickup and dropoff passengers at the station and exit eastbound onto East Walnut.

No Mow May

 I am going to contact the city to see about starting No Mow May in Carbondale.  It sounds like a worthwhile initiative to increase food for pollinators early in the year. Homeowners register with the city and receive a waiver for the month of May from having to maintain their lawns, allowing dandelions, clover and other flowering plants to grow and provide food for bees and other insects early in the year. Once the grace period expires, of course, local ordinances regarding lawn maintenance once again apply.

Lunar Eclipse

Preparing for the second solar eclipse in 2024, SIUC will host a lunar eclipse event starting at 7:30 p.m. on May 15 in Saluki Stadium. The eclipse itself starts about 9:30 with totality occurring about 10:30. There will be a number of astronomy related activities taking place around the field and related documentaries playing on the scoreboard.

Blessing of the Bikes

 The Blessing of the Bikes takes place at Bald Knob Cross this Sunday. Apparently they expect a goodly number of bikers as IDOT has signs up on either side of the Alto Pass exit warning drivers to "Beware of Bikes".

Certificate of Appropriateness Committee Meeting

 The city's certificate of appropriateness committee meets next Monday. On the agenda, it is appropriate to demolish Gen Logan's one time residence at 400 West Oak and what sort of awnings (I guess) are appropriate to replace the ones removed from Priority Sports and The Door. If I recall correctly, SIH owns many of the properties along West Oak and would like to pull down the houses there and expand. Seems a shame, given how much the region venerates Gen. Logan, to raze his house, at least without putting up some acknowledgement that he lived there. Hospitals, universities and churches all have a habit of razing older buildings, even historically significant ones, when they need more space.

Here's the link if you want to watch the meeting

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88142049006?pwd=RHk5VUxJUm1SYXhrSDBocG91bWJLdz09

 1. Roll Call and Determination of a Quorum

2. Communication and Reports:

a. Certificate of Appropriateness review for the demolition of General John A.

Logan’s residence at 400 West Oak Street.

b. Certificate of Appropriateness review for replacement awnings for properties

located at 106 and 112 South Illinois Avenue.

3. Comments by the Public, Committee Members, or Staff

Murals

 The City of Carbondale is looking for someone(s) to paint 5 murals in downtown Carbondale. Locations are the Wallace Building, SI Pawn, Varsity Center for the Arts, Julia Building and Horstman's Cleaners. You can see the spots here as well as the mural on the side of Arnette's Barber Shop which looks to be what the city is looking for.

The Chamber of Commerce is working on something similar but  prominently featuring SIUC's logo and images. 

Park District Newsletter

 Looks as if the Carbondale Park District wants to make sure its side of the story in the discussion between it and the city council over merging and responsibility for parks within the city. Although the park district has send out mailings over the years, those always focused on programs offered by the District. This is the first one, that I recall, focusing on the Park District and the challenges it faces. 

According to the newsletter, the Park District dates back to 1940 and first assumed responsibility for maintaining several city parks in the 1950s and signed formal leases in 1963, designating the CPKD as the organization responsible for maintaining the properties. As costs of maintenance have increased, the CPKD revenues generated by property taxes have not grown at the same rate, leading to the closure of the BMX park on the south side of Carbondale and deferred maintenance on a number of park properties. With the change in responsibilities, the CPKD plans to allocate more money toward addressing that deferred maintenance 

Crypto Exchange

 Looks as if downtown Carbondale was not the best location for a "crypto exchange" office or whatever the business was doing with cryptocurrency. It has opened up an office in the QQ Bubble Tea location several months ago but I now see a "For Rent" sign in the window. About a decade ago, the city was pushing "Cyberdale", now I guess "Cryptodale" did not work either.

Awnings

 As part of the downtown redevelopment, the city has removed the awning standing in front of The Door and Priority Sports has been removed. It has been there since before I came to town in 1990 so imagine it got grandfathered in when IDOT established more regulations for sidewalks bordering highways. Awnings are OK but putting supports as close to the street as the Priority Shoes awning are likely not approved.

TJ's Fine Jewelry

 TJ's Fine Jewelry on West Main  got hit by an SUV last night. Plowed through the front of the store. Major damage to the front of the store but no one was injured and no product lost. Apparently a case of someone driving under the influence.