Downtown Restoration Project

Originally posted on the school board thread!! Sorry about that!!

According to WCDT, the screwed up square has its first victim! A tractor trailer hung up trying to turn down the hill at the Wenger building corner. The islands and parallel parking have really screwed it up. Looks nice, but there will be problems. You would think there would be a sign on the Cowan highway that all North bound traffic would have to take the bypass and all West bound traffic traffic would have to take the connector road. Poor planning!!!!

More Facts wrote:

Originally posted on the school board thread!! Sorry about that!!
According to WCDT, the screwed up square has its first victim! A tractor trailer hung up trying to turn down the hill at the Wenger building corner. The islands and parallel parking have really screwed it up. Looks nice, but there will be problems. You would think there would be a sign on the Cowan highway that all North bound traffic would have to take the bypass and all West bound traffic traffic would have to take the connector road. Poor planning!!!!

Either Friday or Saturday the scanner announced a 'fender bender' between a bldg and an 18 wheeler. The way it sounded was that the truck driver didn't realize he'd hit a bldg when turning the corner. A BOLO was announced to Decherd, Estill and other agencies to pull that truck over if and when seen. Don't know if the truck were ever located and I really don't think the driver knew he'd bumped the bldg.

I hope this isn't the 2nd 'bump' to the same business.

There will be more, the islands and parallel parking are not friendly to through traffic. I am surprised that TDOT bought into this!! Also noticed today that the "restoration" that was to improve the "facades",(that means front any way you research it) was over on the West side of Hammers re-pointing the brick work. Are the property owners getting a total free ride on the tax returned money??

Generally speaking, only contractors approved by Historic Restoration Societies are allowed to 'step' on site. Research laws in other states....start with Annapolis, Maryland. Their 'historic' restoration rules/ regs are extremely specific regarding contractors; what can/ can't be changed/ fabricated to depict a certain era.

Personally, I have no problem with the work these contractors have done as the Square is beginning to look much more historic. I do wonder about the planters as they seem to be a bit of a distraction and may cause driving problems in the future. Also, I wonder about the life span of those plants since concrete is rather acidic.

Were I a business owner, I'd be happy as a clam to have all this free work done to my store front (s) and/ or sides.

Parking is a problem, as previously stated. There was some mention of old ladies attempting to parallel park. I don't mean to sound like a male chauvinist because I'm not, but I see just as many elderly men making driving mistakes as women. I'm 60; part of my 'test', when 16, was held in downtown Chattanooga. I was made to parallel park on a side street with a SERIOUS up hill incline. When I completed that difficult task, the officer said I passed and told me to drive back to the station. Before that, he directed me to a 'quiet side street' where I was told to drive in reverse, using the rear view mirror of course.... for several blocks. Are driving tests different now? If so, then we need to go back to the 'old school' way of doing things.(hell, parallel parking and going in reverse is a normal part of life..except now when folks aren't allowed to back out into oncoming traffic from a drive way. The folks in 900 block of Main Street, Decherd should be educated on that fact.)

What will I do from now on when my friends and I agree to meet in front of the BLUE bldg when we plan shopping/lunch trips?

We will let you know what the new color is for that block of buildings.

"Either Friday or Saturday the scanner announced a 'fender bender' between a bldg and an 18 wheeler. The way it sounded was that the truck driver didn't realize he'd hit a bldg when turning the corner. A BOLO was announced to Decherd, Estill and other agencies to pull that truck over if and when seen. Don't know if the truck were ever located and I really don't think the driver knew he'd bumped the bldg.

I hope this isn't the 2nd 'bump' to the same business."

The 2 lanes coming up the hill are a problem. The car in the outside lane has to move towards the middle to clear the island at the movie, forcing a vehicle in the adjoining lane to have to move over the double yellow, noticed this Monday when I had no choice but to move over or get hit on the passenger side. I still can't believe TDOT bought into all this!! I think we can name this corner "malfunction junction"!!

what a waste of money this whole thing has been.

Governor Bredesen is cutting state jobs and services while towns like Winchester are being given millions to revitalize their downtowns. This is tax money and it seems a lot of it will be spent on private properties. I have heard that some of the buildings in downtown Winchester are tied to city officials. They, and the city officials before them, permitted, in part, the dilapidation of downtown by not seeing that codes were properly enforced. One govenment mess on top of another. Revitalization of our government seems to me to be the top priority.

Code enforcement is a proper question.'More Facts' brought that up on another thread a while back. Restoring store fronts is one thing that will make the city not only look more 'historic' but also appeal to new businesses. Does this restoration include bringing plumbing and electricity up to code? Parking is a major problem.

Are the 2nd floors in Winchester businesses available for residential rentals? If Decherd would change their codes allowing 2nd floors to become 'loft' rentals, we could rebuild our historic downtown as well. A couple nice 'foofoo' restaurants, a small organic style grocery, a bakery and a quiet little pub with music would send Decherd back into the black. Oh....we seriously need a Dunkin' Donut Shop!!!! But....parking is the problem here, too.

Some good ideas. Brick and mortar restoration is nice but people make the downtown. It seems to me that the opportunity to build community support and excitement with the revitalization is receiving too little attention. Where are the talk show updates, news releases, and so forth? Should the Community Development Committee be involved? Or will it be the same old tired downtown with a new look?

Too late to be discussing or complaining, the deed is done. Elected officials passed their responsibility off to others to handle millions of dollars. Yes city officials own some of the buildings. Go to the tax assessors page for FC and insert a name or address for all the good news. Will all these millions bring these buildings into ADA, Fire, and other code required standard? I think not. Will the accessed valve of the properties go up with the cosmetic renovations? I think not. Will it look nice? Most likely. Will we get a return for all the monies spent? Not in my lifetime!!!

My memory was that funding for revamping the square came from taxes collected by downtown merchants. Downtown merchants selected Bill Cowan to oversee this work. I believe he has worked very hard on this project.
If 18 wheelers are having a hard time, then city or state needs to take some action. It has always been a squeeze going up there where the theater is located.
That square was always a kind of driver's nightmare once cars became bigger that horses and wagons and buggies.

To More Facts wrote:

My memory was that funding for revamping the square came from taxes collected by downtown merchants. Downtown merchants selected Bill Cowan to oversee this work. I believe he has worked very hard on this project.
If 18 wheelers are having a hard time, then city or state needs to take some action. It has always been a squeeze going up there where the theater is located.
That square was always a kind of driver's nightmare once cars became bigger that horses and wagons and buggies.

What you say is correct. It was sales tax revenue. The problem I see is the City Council (assumption) authorized tax collections to be spent to enhance privately owned property. That corner of the square has always been a problem. It seems to be a little tighter now!! You would think that signage would be placed in appropriate locations (both ends of the bypass and at the connector access locations) that all commercial traffic must take those routes.

What you suggest with big trucks being routed around the square will perhaps become a reality in time but the wheels of government turn slowly and probably a few more trucks will have to hit something before the council or state gets motivated. Wasn't there a second level of funding from somewhere that has been used to improve the facades. Perhaps a check of the minutes of the Downtown Merchants Association will reveal how some of these millionaire owners of buildings downtown perhaps got a tax supported improvement to their property.