Posted: Thursday, June 30, 2005 12:00 am
Downtown Racine's revival is a fascinating work in progress. As the revitalization chugs along, one's focus tends to shift from place to place and issue to issue. An area that's been drawing my attention of late is M.S., aka Monument Square.
The critical 400 block of Main Street — once the weakest link in Downtown — continues to improve by leaps and bounds. New stores have recently opened in that block and it's easy to predict several more opening before many months have passed (402-404, 411, 430 and 432 Main St., and later 422).
However, as that block's revival revs up, Monument Square becomes more noticeably lagging. And if anything, it's more critical than Main Street's 400 block.
No question, there's been progress on Monument Square. Twister was a great addition. Lakeside Pharmacy is a stalwart there. And as we speak, 530 Monument Square is being rebuilt to bring us a new ice cream parlor.
That said, here are my "Eight Reasons Monument Square is One-Eighth of What It Could Be." With each, I'll give my Probability Index (P.I.): My assessment of how likely each site is to show satisfactory improvement by late next year — a reasonable time period in the life of Downtown, I'd say.
1. 500 Monument Square.
Owner: Bank of Elmwood.
For its sheer size and longevity of its emptiness, we have to start with the vacant Zahn's Department Store and the narrow empty lot next to it. The tortured road to its present perdition, including the Imaginarium's failure to materialize, is well known.
But this will be a stupendous building if and when it's made productive, and it has tremendous potential impact to help lift Downtown.
No handyman's special, the present asking price is $2.5 million.
P.I.: Fair to good.
2. Monument Square itself.
Owner: City of Racine.
The badly needed overhaul of the former Haymarket Square has been delayed a year for a couple of reasons, including the budget mess the state dumped onto Wisconsin municipalities.
However, this allows plenty of time to settle on a design and get ready for reconstruction in 2005. Money is still a question, but Racine must find a way to get it done next year. That would expand interest in Downtown and allow events to be held at the focal point of Downtown, Monument Square.
P.I.: High.
3. 524 Monument Square.
Owner: Raymond Borgeson and family.
What hallucinogens were in Racine's drinking water when people replaced the grand old 1800s buildings with architectural dreck like this? Apparently the same ones that led city fathers into a demolition spree with old Downtown movie theaters like the Rialto and Venetian.
The complete lack of exterior appeal is compounded by the structure's mostly vacant, neglected condition within. The best remedy would be — who knows? In the meantime, this is an unloved child and unpromising for Monument Square's future.
P.I.: Very low.
4. 532-532 Monument Square.
Owner: In Ja Shin.
Here there are at least two problems, and one is spelled "Payday Loans." ‘Nuff said about that.
The other blight is the building: a squat, one-story box with dark brown wooden siding that hides who-knows-what flaws or features? It looks like something a bunch of 10-year-old boys would build in the backyard, only larger.
Even if it was lovely beneath those boards — an unlikely thought — that corner needs a much taller, majestic building of about three stories. The best remedy would be for some angel to buy, bulldoze and build something appropriate there.
P.I.: So low it's about 6 feet underground.
Nos. 5-8: The four (count 'em!) storefronts now vacant in the 200 block of Sixth Street.
They are the former Images bridal shop at the corner of Sixth and Main, and 207, 209 and 221 Sixth St.
Various owners.
P.I.: Ranges from doubtful to very good.
Out of the Grotto …
… And into a new home. You may have read Saturday in The Journal Times that Helen & Craig's Bistro, at Fourth and Main streets, will close. In its place, Sebastian's will open a second restaurant, the Yellow Rose.
The Sebastians are also taking over Sam & Gene's Grotto, the adjacent meeting/banquet hall that the late Sam Johnson and Gene, his wife, started.
Although the Grotto, as it will be called, will retain its basic appearance, one facet will change. The stunning collection of fossils and other artifacts that Sam and Gene Johnson collected during their travels will be moved.
That's a loss for the Grotto, but good news for anyone who never had the pleasure of getting into the Grotto to see them. Sam and Gene's daughter Helen Johnson-Leipold said most or all of those museum-quality treasures will be put on display at the Johnson Building, 555 Main St. — most likely in public view on the first floor.
Watch for these
Coming to a neighborhood near you or someone else:
• Old Navy will open a store next to Bed, Bath & Beyond. It will fill the rest of the space once occupied by the former Phar Mor, near Pick ‘n Save. Old Navy is a clothing brand owned by the Gap, as is Banana Republic, and carries clothing for all ages.
• Two new eateries are coming to 3022 Douglas Ave.: Papa John's Pizza and Harold's Chicken.
• Also in that area: The future Jimmy's All-American will open at 3316 Douglas Ave., next to Dairy Queen and in front of the former Haman Bros. Produce.
The owners also have The Barn, a Kenosha-area sports bar. One of them said Jimmy's All-American will be a large delicatessen specializing in sandwiches, with an outdoor seating area, liquor store, tobacco shop and catalog shopping for ordering hard-to-find wines.
Business reporter Michael Burke's column appears on
Sundays. He can be reached at (262) 631-1716 or by e-mail at: