The Attention-Getting Device

A lot of national news has been worry-inducing recently, so I was thrilled to tune into WOUB yesterday morning and hear, instead of the latest financial doom and gloom, an announcement from council member Jim Sands that the City is setting aside $40,000 in street maintenance money to repair the brick surface of East Carpenter Street. Anyone who has recently driven down Carpenter muttering desperate prayers of protection for their muffler will understand my joy.

Wow. It's awful quiet around here. Guess a three and a half month hiatus is a good way to kill a blog. As a way to ramp up posting again without having to write in-depth, research-oriented articles for a while I'm going to engage in a series of wild speculations and ramblings about potential revitalization around town. First task is to introduce the cast of characters, and I begin with...ye old Armory!

Chances are you know the Armory, even if not by name. It is the giant brown brick building that sits overlooking the end of N. Court St. The Armory has been vacant for, well, a very long time. I doubt it holds the local prize for "longest stretch standing empty without a viable plan for use", but it's getting up there.

The City of Athens has owned the building for a number of years, but has apparently never had the funding to renovate it. The rumor mill suggests that interior asbestos paneling is part of the hangup - asbestos is expensive to remove, requiring a certified environmental cleanup team with proper safety equipment.