Sparkleman

My guy who own a piece of property near where the ball field will be says HJ building coming down very soon to make way for a new hotel. Has anyone else heard that?

Thanks for sending those links as that's solid info. It's kind of interesting that unless I am missing something almost none of the paving is taking place in any of the city neighborhoods.

Anybody got an idea when they are going to start paving some of the roads that we approved last November?

I think I posted a while back that Harris Automotive and the Compton attorney that sit up on the hill of Henry St Ext had received offers to sell their properties (I am assuming to GDJ or one of his sub companies) back in the fall/winter. According to a source close to the situation the offers have been upped significantly but so far both refuse to budge. I am assuming someone wants to build condos/townhomes that look down into the ballpark similar to Fluor Field in Greenville.

Feels like a clown show downtown when it comes to Morgan Square. Just leave it alone.

Can we name the team something simple like Cardinals or maybe Rangers since that is what we are an affiliate and not something outlandish like Spartanburgers or Peaches? I feel its gonna turn out corny but am hoping for the best.

I am all for connecting the River Birch Trail with Drayton Mills Trail along Heywood Rd, but traffic on Heywood and Country Club are 2 different animals.

A lot of folks use Country Club road to circumnavigate the traffic of going through downtown. If you are coming out of Hillbrook, Fernwood, Clifton, Glendale etc., it takes forever to get through school crossings, downtown to get where you are going. Many people (myself included) use CC Rd to get to Union St then 295 to get around a lot of that traffic. There are some 30+ traffic lights between Jesse Boyd and the west side which is a serious pain. The work on CC Rd has been going on for a while with no emd in sight. I am not trying to be negative but fail to see the need for this trail along this high use road as well as along Clifton-Gendale Rd. It'll be a miracle if no one is killed during the construction and afterwards. It just seems that this wasn't very well thought out as there is a lot of traffic and a couple of stop lights that folks routinely run along CC Rd as well as Woodburn and the road leading to Spartanburg Athletic Club. I hope I am wrong.

This project has to be one of the bigger screwups in the city/county's history and that's saying something.

What's up with the steps that lead down to St John St? You can't park there and there isn't a cross walk (yet?). I fail to understand why these were put in.

Somebody better start moving some dirt...like now!

I have been to Dudleys twice since the reopening. If anything the food and the service is better now than before. Trey Hatfield has managed to do an incredible redo of this signature eastside restaurant.

Not sure why they wouldn't want good paying light manufacturing jobs right there on their side of town.

I am 59 years young and find it ironic that neither West Main St or Union St has changed one bit in my lifetime. I hope this goes through and that other things change.

Economic development and more jobs would certainly change things. Perhaps the 90,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in the old Pepsi building can help with that.

I was out riding around town on Saturday afternoon with a buddy of mine from out of town. We hit downtown then took Union St all the way back towards Country Club Rd. He said can't we just carpet bomb everything on Union St and start over. I agree in that almost nothing has changed over there in like forever and it has become the south sides version of Asheville Hwy. If nothing else whatever happened to the plans to put whatever "Nipseys" was in where the old Clancy's was?

The wife and I had lunch at DD&D on Friday and it was amazing as always. This is gonna be a tough pill to swallow. She told us it doesn't have anything to do with customers or lack of biz, she just wants to cater. I can respect that but nowhere else in town can match what she does deli wise.

Along this same vein, what is the deal with Auto Parts store and drug stores all congragating together in the same area? You have this in several parts of town and now its gonna happen with car washes?

Word is Dudleys will reopen August 12 will an almost brand new staff. Lot of east side hopes nothing has changed in 9 months.

The small piece of property down below the hotel and right before the RR tracks is a minor sticking point. It is owned by CSX and if anyone not named GDJ was involved they would not let it go and it would possibly sink the deal. Fortunately GDJ is involved and owns the rest of the land so he'll get that piece of land but price tag will be steep.

I have always wanted to know what it's like to live in the Drayton Mills lofts as I have never know anyone (or you) that has done so. What is it like living in the old mill?

Will there just be a crosswalk there at Myrtle Dr. to connect with the part of lower Drayton Trail?

Does anyone know (or heard whispers or good intel) on where we are concerning a downtown minor league stadium? I have heard from several small business owners down near grain district that they think it is a go but can't verify. Have we been talking to other minor league teams abaout moving? I am also talking about legit baseball here, not the Savannah Banana crap.

Many folks have pined for a Mast for a lot of years now. I for one am in for that but not sure it can ever happen with sotes already in Asheville, Hendersonville, and Greenville, but again why not here? We have a growing population with almost no where to shop.

As I drove down Broad St this morning I saw a bunch on new air handlers sitting behind the old Wild Wing. A crane was being moved into position and there were a lot of Davis Services trucks around so its safe to say the building is getting a new HVAC system. Anybody have a clue as to what might be going in there? Also Dudley's still sitting vacant on east side. I wish the owner (Trey Hatfield) would just go in with one of the restaurant groups here in town and get that joint back opened up.