They are finally laying brick in the Northwest quadrant of the Public Square! I'm excited with the prospect of the finished product within the next week or so. My enthusiasm is somewhat dampened by low volume rumblings of the possibility of no flowers in the Public Square by the 4th of July. While I am not 100% sure why this is occuring, I believe that the delay will make the downtown construction feel unfinished even if the sidewalks are done by that date. So, while I try to understand the politics of this possibility, I am a bit saddened by it.
Overall, the construction seems to be rolling along. When it's done there's no doubt that the downtown will be visually appealing, but it will be up to the downtown businesses to take advantage of this marketing opportunity.
This week I spent a few hours with acquaintances, friends, family and complete strangers filling and planting the eight large planters that are distributed around the downtown. I have to applaud those that came to our rescue when we needed to place those planters filled with 300 pounds of compost.
It has been a hot week temperature wise. I'm thankful for the bricklayers who through the weekends and the heat have been faithfully handlaying and cutting the brick for the sidewalks. They are doing a tremendous job and the Northeast quadrant certainly looks wonderful. I on the other hand have suffered a mild case of dehydration and have taken a couple of days this week to recuperate.
I've noticed several people walking in the evenings checking out the new sidewalks. It's good to see people out and about. Not sure if it's the weather or the construction. Perhaps a combination of both.
I still hope things will work out and we'll have finished landscaping on the Public Square by July 4th.
