Natural's Not in It.

I suppose it's time to update the scorecard. I believe there as yet are one or two eateries that have not reopened since the pandemic, but also have not announced a definitive closing.

ON THE DRAWING BOARD
Agave & Rye (former Hull & High Water, story below)
Monnik Beer Company (former Bank Street Brewhouse on Bank)
True North Coffee House (new ownership for Quills)

OPENED IN 2020
8th Street Pizza (Breakwater; reopening)
Board and You Bistro & Wine Bar
Legacy Pizza & Bakery
Recbar 812
Fistful of Ale (nanobrewery/beer bar extension of pre-existing Fistful of Tacos)

CLOSED IN 2020
Longboard's Taco & Tiki
Primo's Delicatessen
Roadrunner Kitchen
The Standard (will function as event space)

What have I forgotten? Meanwhile, here's the Agave & Rye story.

Agave & Rye taking over former Hull & High Water space in New Albany at WLKY

Less than a year after opening its first Louisville location, Agave & Rye has already signed another lease to expand the concept into Southern Indiana, Louisville Business First reports.

The Cincinnati-based restaurant concept opened its Baxter Avenue eatery in February, and is now planning to open its second area location at the former Hull & High Water space at 324 E. Main St. in New Albany, Indiana.

Agave & Rye tweeted the news on Friday, along with the news of its new Rookwood, Ohio restaurant opening in September, and another location in Troy, Ohio, planned for November 2020. The new eateries would brand's total locations to seven, with four already-established restaurants in Louisville, Lexington and Covington, Kentucky, and Liberty Township, Ohio.

Which superannuated white male "guest" columnist is featured in the News and Tribune today?

Does it even matter which one? They all look and write the same.

Now that I have your attention, perhaps the ugliest of the 1960s-era bank buildings downtown, most of which were erected atop lots made vacant by the bulldozing of 19th-century architectural gems -- this being what the Warren Nash generation regarded as "progress," and why they shouldn't be trusted -- soon will be emptied.

Just look at all that space wasted for storing cars, as opposed to productive economic-enhancement possibilities. Daniel Suddeath explains and interviews a local rock star for good measure.

(But they're not really rock stars, are they?)

In New Albany, the paint colors black and gray are the new beige. Ugh.

Have you noticed that various shades of gray and black have become ubiquitous when it comes to putting coats of paint on commercial buildings downtown?

Interestingly, throughout history the names of famous people have been used to described colors, as with Alice Blue, which was named for Teddy Roosevelt's daughter, and Titian Red, after the painter.

Jeffie Charcoal, anyone?

Paint it black, architecturally speaking? Better yet, just make it stop, by John King (San Francisco Chronicle)

If nothing else, sheltering in place these past two months has allowed us to get to know our neighborhoods very well — close encounters of the strolling kind, day after day after day.

Which means that I can now state emphatically, without reservation, that the black house craze has gone too far.

As happens with any fashion trend, from padded shoulders in the 1980s to man buns of more recent vintage, houses cloaked in dark gray or jet black have crossed the line from sexy and stylish to been there-done that. In and of themselves, some look great — they “pop,” to use a word favored by color consultants. En masse, you’d think tar was being poured from airplanes onto random homes for no particular reason.

It’s enough to make one long for sheepish beige ...

Stop it. Stop fluffing INDOT. In fact, f*ck INDOT. Sherman Minton repairs should be deferred for at least a year.

It wouldn't ever be easy, but with the tribulations of COVID-19 and the challenges that independent local businesses in New Albany already have faced, to disrupt access to New Albany in 2021 without us first having the chance to regain a foothold during an ongoing pandemic is sheer bureaucratic insanity.

Automobile supremacy might well be an American religion, but sorry, INDOT is not a God. We needn't worship it. In fact, it probably should be consigned to the dumpster fires: DEFUND INDOT sounds mighty fine to me.

Are the courts a possibility in delaying this vicious kick to the skull by our own presumed state government?

Sherman Minton closures will be limited during construction under plan, by Daniel Suddeath (Hanson's Beige Machine)

After almost two years of conducting public meetings and garnering input, planners of the Sherman Minton Renewal are ready to submit their traffic proposal for the $90 million improvement project.

The recommended plan released today limits full closure of the Sherman Minton Bridge to 54 days out of the estimated 834 days of construction on the bridge, which could begin as early as April.

The full closure days would be limited to nine consecutive days per direction a year and up to a trio of three-day weekends per direction each year of the project. The 54 days of closure will not occur consecutively.

The proposal is an alternative to a full closure of the bridge for the duration of construction— a move that business owners, elected officials and residents warned could have caused devastating effects on New Albany.

“We have taken the public’s input very seriously,” said Sherman Minton Renewal spokeswoman Andrea Brady.

During full closures, Indiana traffic will be detoured via Interstate 265 to Interstate 65 under the plan. Kentucky traffic on I-64 and Interstate 264 will be diverted to the I-65 bridges for Indiana access.

“Naturally during peak traffic periods there’s going to be more traffic congestion but there will be signage in place so people can plan accordingly,” said Brady, as she added there will be “significant communication” during construction to alert the public about any closures or other traffic issues.

The plan will allow for two eastbound and two westbound lanes to remain open for the majority of the project and will keep access ramps open for the bulk of construction. One lane in both directions will be closed throughout construction.

The contractor will be allowed to work 24 hours a day, seven days a week and some of the lanes may be closed nightly during construction for up to 180 nights per calendar year.

Though it’s better than a complete closure of the bridge, Joe Phillips, owner of Pints & Union in downtown New Albany, fears the project will create another burden for businesses that are currently dealing with losses due to the coronavirus ...

Sunday must-read: "After Save A Lot’s Closing, Potential For Food Desert Grows In New Albany' by John Boyle at WFPL.

Where to begin?

It's wonderful to see John Boyle hit the ground running at his new public radio gig. We're advised never to underestimate the value of liberation from Hanson Acres.

No one can be sure, but apparently the rule of thumb at the Jeffersonville News and Tribune is to ALWAYS solicit the view of a public official, elected or appointed, when writing a story like this.

Refreshingly to the point of screaming aloud with joy and dancing in the streets, Boyle does not do this, preferring instead to speak with those humans affected by Save A Lot's closure, and to locate educated, principled local experts whose opinions are not wedded to the same old political considerations.

The result is fine writing without a cover photo of a mayor, councilman or NAHA administrator.

Three ... six ... nine ... hell, 18 cheers for that.

Thank you, John Boyle.

But here's the part I'm waiting to hear explained by local officials: Assuming the downtown food and drink sector recovers from COVID, which as yet cannot be asserted as a foregone conclusion, what does it say about New Albany as a city that we constantly flog our trendy eateries and watering holes while ignoring the fact that they exist smack in the middle of a food desert, a fact that is most damaging to residents who frankly cannot afford to dine and drink downtown?

Perhaps the LEE Initiative can annex us. Shall we pray?

After Save A Lot’s Closing, Potential For Food Desert Grows In New Albany, by John Boyle (WFPL)

Since the 1950s, residents of downtown New Albany have bought their food at 624 State St., which was originally a Kroger before becoming a Save A Lot. But on June 20, Save A Lot permanently closed its doors. And while there are large grocery chains like Kroger near the outskirts of town, the city’s core is now lacking a full-service grocery option.

“There’s so many of us over here that are very upset, because sometimes we don’t like the big stores,” said Kimberly Williams, who shopped at Save A Lot frequently over the last 12 years. “[Save A Lot] feels homey. Other stores are big, crowded. I don’t like a crowd like that. I like to keep it simple. I know where everything is. That’s going to hurt.”

Williams lives in the nearby New Albany Housing Authority (NAHA) complex. Every two weeks or so, she would pull a wagon just over half a mile to shop, which would take roughly 30 minutes roundtrip.

One of New Albany’s Kroger stores is a little more than a mile away from the former Save A Lot. Though the increase in distance may seem minuscule, every extra step matters to elderly citizens like Williams. The difficulty is amplified by nearby hilly terrain and the fact that Kroger is located in a large shopping center surrounded by an expansive and busy parking lot, which makes the trip less pedestrian-friendly.

“That’s real rough,” Williams said. “You know what I mean? Because sometimes my wagon gets a little heavy. But you know, that’s how I do it… I’ll pull it home. I’m going to miss that. I am.”

snip

The USDA identifies food deserts as neighborhoods that are more than one mile away from the nearest supermarket or grocery store in urban areas – or 10 miles in rural areas – and have poverty rates greater than or equal to 20 percent. One tract of New Albany east of downtown that has a population of 1,897 was already listed on the USDA’s interactive atlas of food deserts, which uses data from 2015.

With the closure of Save A Lot, four more tracts that meet the poverty thresholds could also qualify. Up to 13,500 residents of New Albany may now be living in food deserts.

A new relocation destination for 8th Street Pizza: Breakwater.

Get the lowdown on 8th Street Pizza at Facebook, and observe the above post earlier today. As of last year, 8th Street Pizza was to have relocated (that's right, from 8th Street) to 141 E. Main.

Homelessness, 8th Street Pizza's move, Clean Socks Hope's mission and an addendum by Exit 0.

However, the building fell through for undisclosed reasons, and now it appears the pizzeria is headed for the short-lived Bliss Artisan retail space at the Breakwater residential development.

From December 28, 2019.

Sadly, Bliss Artisan is closed. The franchise lasted ten months at The Breakwater.

It's one of the greatest weeks in New Albany's twisted, scattershot history.

Yes, and I do mean greatest. Nine dreary and ever-decaying years later, at long last the Preston Arts facade is GONE.

I'm giddy.

From late last year, when Diana Hylton said all that needed to be said:

"There’s going to be signage for an actual business that’s going to be there, it’s not just going to be something that was once there that hasn’t been. It’s going to be current and fresh and exciting. We’re just excited — that’s all I can say."

Power move: Him Gentleman's Boutique and Mane Alley Color & Extension Bar to transform the moribund Preston Arts Building.

Hearty congratulations to the new occupants for their stellar restoration work. And now, all together, let's turn to the band Sparks for inspiration.

Giddy giddy giddy
Our entire city
Each and every person the
Epitome of giddiness

We're giddy giddy giddy
Our entire city
Everyone displaying an
Immense amount of giddiness

Wait -- I'm getting a pulse ... The Movement and Say Their Names, coming Saturday to NA.

These two events are occurring almost simultaneously in New Albany on Saturday morning.

The Movement peaceful protest (above)
Say Their Names: Chalk the Sidewalk (below)

More than a few downtown New Albany businesses have expressed support for Black Lives Matters (generally) and these two events (specifically). More than one of these businesses has pledged to distribute water on Saturday morning, or to try to help in other ways.

It's highly instructive to contrast the overall positive, principled vibe of these two events with the predictable comments from those who (shall we say) "oppose" the principles being espoused therein.

Like these.

Shopkeeper: "You look thirsty. Here, have some water."

Angry specimen: "If that SHIT turns violent I blame YOU."

What a way to live.

The Elderberry Company expands into Longboard's -- it's elderberry syrup, not elderberry wine.

All right, so I've been looking for an excuse for many a year to use Elton John's "Elderberry Wine" in a blog post, and here it is, but fair's fair; it's 2020, and Bernie Taupin's lyrics from 1972 aren't exactly fashionable in the current era of "woke."

Ever the Americanophile, the youthful lyricist Taupin's reach at times exceeded his grasp. Besides, churning out two albums a year had to have been a challenge. Somehow John (music) and Taupin (words) managed it for virtually the entirety of the 1970s, which remains an amazing feat.

The overall feel of "Elderberry Wine" seems more redolent of Honky Chateau (the preceding album) than Don't Shoot Me I'm Only the Piano Player, given the latter's status as immediate prelude to the ensuing (and enduring) grandiosity of Goodbye Yellow Brick Road.

Elderberry wine as a tipple? It can be done.

Meanwhile, seeing as there has yet to be a single road paved with golden bricks leading to Nawbany (no sly jokes about mayoral campaign finance on this fine spring day), we find The Elderberry Company expanding into the recently vacated Longboard's space -- and bully for them. Assuming their rent is favorable, the key to success appears to be orders shipped worldwide, rather than strict reliance on customers coming inside the bricks and mortar.

It's too bad the tricked-out downstairs at Longboard's couldn't survive as a speakeasy serving nothing except cheeses, selected Belgian ales and Genever. And yet there are other buildings still vacant ...

Good luck and best wishes to The Elderberry Company. Might there be locally grown elderberries for the company's use at some point in the future?

The Elderberry Co. in New Albany to expand into former Longboard's location, by Brooke McAfee (Hanson's All-Male Commentariat)

A few years ago, Jenny Watson started her business by making batches of elderberry syrup in her kitchen at home.

Now, the former stay-at-home mom is preparing to triple the space of her small specialty shop in downtown New Albany.

Watson opened The Elderberry Co. at 302 Pearl St. in September 2019, but after outgrowing the current space, she is expanding the business's production and shipping operations into the next-door Longboard's Taco & Tiki restaurant space, which closed in January. She will continue to use the current space for a storefront, which sells organic elderberry syrup, elderberry tea and local honey, and the business will take over the new space in April.

For the record, Primo's Delicatessen has closed.

From February 10, 2014 in these pages.

Food and dining notes: Primo's, Muscle Monkey and Bread and Breakfast.

Cafe 157 occupies the space where Bread and Breakfast used to be, and the former Muscle Monkey has been Lady Tron's for a while. NABC's Bank Street Brewhouse is mentioned in the article, and of course renovation continues there toward the Monnik Beer takeover coming soon.

Meanwhile Primo's Delicatessen closed shop a couple weeks back. Six years is a good run by any standard, but the past year was rocky for them. The story as I heard it was that original owner Benny Carter's wife died last year, and the business was a casualty; he passed it on to an associate, but things didn't work out. When I glanced in the other day, the space was empty.

Let's update the list started earlier in 2020.

---

OPENING IN 2020
Board and You Bistro & Wine Bar (TBD; 430 Pearl, where the Cidery was to have been)
Monnik Beer Company (TBD; former Bank Street Brewhouse on Bank)
Recbar 812 (February 3; former La Rosita's on Pearl)
Tavern Hall at The Exchange (event space in the former Feast BBQ)

CLOSING IN 2020
Longboard's Taco & Tiki
Primo's Delicatessen

Here is last year's summary.

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New Albany's restaurant and bar openings and closings for 2019.

December 30, 2019

Following is our crowd-sourced list of restaurant/bar openings and closings in New Albany for 2019: Indies only; no chains, and just businesses within city limits.

Here's a special category: Floyd County Brewing, which expanded into the Biergarten after launching Grain Haus in 2018. They're still all common ownership, but deserving of note for organization of available space.

Did we miss anyone? There are two reasons why Our Lady of Perpetual Hops isn't on this list: (1) it doesn't have a kitchen, and (b) I'm still not sure whether it's city, fringe area or county. The beers are good, though.

OPENING IN 2019 ... 8 + 3 (see below) = 11
Boomtown Kitchen
Chicago City Pizza
Fistful of Tacos
Get It on a Bun at Booty’s
La Catrina
Tacolicious To Go
The Earl
The Standard Plate & Pour

CLOSING IN 2019 ... 6 + 3 (see below) = 9
Bank Street Brewhouse/Taco Steve
Cox’s Hot Chicken
Hull & High Water
Mandarin Cafe
Red Men Club
Sinaloa

BOTH OPENING AND CLOSING IN 2019 ... 3
Bliss Artisan
El Rico Taco
Mirin

ON THE AVENUES: For downtown New Albany, escaping reality might soon be a bridge too far.

It transpired last weekend that the missus and I were walking eastbound on Market Street when we heard music loudly throbbing from the inside of a late model VW hatchback parked up the way.

As we got closer to the thumping, it became clear the song was “The Winner Takes It All” by the 1970s-era supergroup ABBA, which at this juncture was being rocked out from inside the hatchback by a respectably attired young male who probably was born during the last Viagra-propelled dregs of Bill Clinton’s administration.

Startled upon seeing us, the ABBA fan immediately lowered the volume, and this puzzled me. Personalized interior karaoke revelries like his are far superior to the public type, which require greater numbers of humans to be traumatized.

The experience reminded me of a warm day earlier in the month, when I gently steered my nondescript beet-red 2009 Ford Fusion into its usual parking spot on Spring Street in front of the house, front windows rolled down, as I belted out “Heavy Jacket,” a song by the Manchester UK rock band Courteeners.

It might be noted that my rendition of this exciting number enjoyed only a vague proximity to tunefulness.

But I had a strange feeling, and before disembarking shot a quick glance to the south, revealing two of the kids who live in the duplex across the street seated on their porch, both looking at me with mouths agape as though I’d just landed a spacecraft from Jupiter.

True enough; I hope they don’t seek refuge in harmful behaviors after witnessing the spectacle of my merciless butchering of those innocent notes. However, a little bit of escapism never hurt a soul, especially within the Gahanic confines of New Agony.

The moral of my story: without music, it wouldn’t even be worth owning a car.

---

Escapism isn’t a particularly difficult concept to grasp, being “the tendency to seek distraction and relief from unpleasant realities, especially by seeking entertainment or engaging in fantasy.”

Not to get overly philosophical, as doing so might send the Redevelopment Commission a-scurrying en masse for refuge in the bunker to be closer to mayor’s campaign petty cash box, but what’s the standard proportion of pleasant reality to unpleasant reality?

For instance, is being “bored” necessarily an unpleasant condition -- or is it merely boring? Is there a ratio to be triggered making escapism desirable?

Which of the two conditions, reality or escapism, is expected to be the predominant factor in one’s life? Shouldn’t it be more reality, less escapism, or does believing so mark me as the sort of person who can remember a time before cell phones?

Because it certainly does seem to me there was an epoch when escapism meant a brief period of removal from reality as a whole, perhaps the hours required to take in a film, show, ballgame or church service; go for a bicycle ride, hike or swim; read a book, practice a craft, tend a garden or grill a steak.

Ever-popular forms of escapism like drinking, drugs, gluttony and onanism bear mentioning, too, but with your indulgence I’ll leave self-medication and addiction aside for the moment.

Also, to anticipate a potential objection, while it’s true that Thomas Jefferson made mention of “pursuit of happiness” in the Declaration of Independence for Everyone Except His Slaves, I believe this is to be taken as “pleasure = absence of pain,” not ready access to streaming.

It strikes me that thanks to the changing nature of work, and surely also attributable to the pervasiveness of electronic and digitized entertainment options, American society is presently engaged in escapism far more often than it concedes to reality. To me, escapism has “trumped” reality.

Obviously there is a socio-economic aspect to this equation, and it isn’t my aim to evade it, either. The greater the number of lower-paying jobs one must work to survive, the less available time to escape the accumulated drudgery. My point is that when escapism becomes the norm, it doesn’t bode well for those human skills required to cope with reality, beginning with the ability to distinguish between the two.

I’ve read my share of fiction, and watch at least two movies each year whether or not they’re regarded as “must-see” (painfully seldom, in my view), but it remains that reality always has comprised the bulk of my entertainment: documentaries, non-fiction, conversation, activities like walking and (formerly) biking, political debates, and the like. I'm a literalist overall. All hail the untrammeled imagination, though what I really want to know is what's true.

Music is an escape of sorts, I suppose; still, for the most part, genres like science fiction and fantasy don’t speak to me. I don’t play games, and mindlessness isn’t a state into which I enjoy descending.

Consequently I’m fascinated by the extent to which escapism has become the norm all around me, from which I’m forced to extrapolate that for lots and lots of people I know personally, reality is unpleasant … or else why work so hard escaping from it?

---

I was thinking about reality versus escape on Tuesday morning at the merchant meeting hosted by Develop New Albany.

Somewhat joyfully for me, the program was 100% reality-based: a fellow who had developed ways to assist in "preparing" home recycling objects so as to increase the likelihood they’ll actually be reused (for example, melting aluminum cans into ingots), and the SOS Pac’s presentation in support of the NAFC Schools’ referendum for safety and mental health expenditures. Whether yea or nay on the referendum, that’s as real as it gets.

And yet so much of downtown’s revitalization these past 15 years is predicated on a form of escapism.

In addition to a lineup of food and drink establishments, all of which survive to some extent because discretionary incomes are such that many people go out to eat and drink as opposed to cooking (and fermenting?) more inexpensively at home, downtown has a theater, a magic shop, an enchanted forest (outdoor frolic venue), a forthcoming marketing campaign designed like comic books, art-as-charcuterie-boards ... not to mention Recbar 812, a 25,000-square-foot Super Bowl of  arcades with hundreds of pinball machines and video games to help adults be kids again.

More power to them all, and obviously there’s nothing wrong with any of these modes of escapism, except for this one relevant ancillary factoid, which may or may not be an 800-lb guerrilla perched around the bend, about to interrupt the reverie and impose reality: the 36-48 month long period allotted for Sherman Minton Bridge repairs, which are about to teach us a critical truth about America’s post-war development patterns.

Automobile supremacy giveth and taketh away in equal measure.

The toll-free bridge has been pleasant. Now we’ll see what happens when it operates (conceivably) with only one lane open in each direction for four whole years. In short, downtown might become a mere shrug of INDOT’s engorged bureaucratic shoulders; just collateral damage, not unlike those Vietnamese villages that we destroyed in order to save them.

What completely baffles me is here we are, about a year away, and during the past two merchant mixers I’ve attended nothing whatever has been said about the period of disruption to come. Nor has a peep emanated from City Hall. There is no visible sign of a planned coping mechanism, pre-marketing campaign or pro-active responsiveness. Rather pins drop, crickets chirp; somewhere a sad mutt barks.

Given the paper-thin profit margins native to most independent businesses, is it far-fetched to suggest that “Shermageddon: The Sequel” could close 30% of the indies located in downtown New Albany during the first two or three months? Perhaps I’m being an alarmist -- or too conservative by half.

Wait, what was that?

You want to get away, to escape?

Amid a conditioned response of monopolistic automobile-centrism, and as ABBA segues into "Waterloo," it's a bummer to realize there’s no way for 95% of downtown New Albany's customers to escape reality without using a car.

---

Recent columns:

February 13: ON THE AVENUES: War. What is it good for? Absolutely nothing.

February 6: ON THE AVENUES Alas, New Albany is less of a place without a bookstore.

January 30: ON THE AVENUES: Dear Holocaust deniers: If you don't like this post, unfriend me now.

January 23: ON THE AVENUES: Running over the same old ground.

Pillar Awards: It's high time Develop New Albany recognized downtown businessman Todd Coleman.

Nearly every field of human endeavor has a regular prize. And nearly every prize seems to regularly go to a clearly undeserving winner. Woody Allen’s character complained in Annie Hall, “They’re always giving out awards. Best Fascist Dictator: Adolf Hitler.” If an award like that really did exist, though, they’d probably end up giving it to Mussolini.
-- Jonathan Chait, writing in The New Republic (2009)

Just to ensure the usual suspects don't willfully misread the preceding quote, kindly note that I AM NOT comparing any local person to Hitler or Mussolini, although the Market Street North Side Only Median beautification project probably would win an award for "Best Ceausescu Knockoff" in the Totalitarian Architecture Awards (they're not the Oscars, but the Ta Tas).

Rather, I'm here to file a nomination for Develop New Albany's Pillar Awards, even though I'm aware of the ironic implications, given that the Pillar Awards are almost meaningless; I don't care about them and neither does my nominee, but fair's fair and it's time the beautiful people boarded the damn train and gave some credit to people outside their narrow field of vision.

To be specific, Todd Coleman should get a Pillar Renaissance Award. He probably also should get a Pillar Foundation Award. 

I'm not going to belabor the point or get frilly about it. Just this: Todd would be a deserving winner.

Todd has owned properties downtown for decades. He has successfully run Classic Furniture downtown for just as long. He hasn't always marched in lockstep with the expectations of newcomers, but maybe -- just maybe -- Todd has been savvy enough to wait and see if other improvements are deep-rooted or ephemeral before reaching into his wallet. 

Now Todd has reached into his wallet, and he's doing work on all his properties. I don't know how many windows he has replaced on these properties. To be sure, he received money from the Horseshoe/Caesar's Foundation to facilitate this work, but I know he's also spent a pretty penny of his own. The entire facade improvement process was weighted to provide maximum assistance to Schmitt Furniture, but Todd has done more improving with less assistance in a shorter period of time.

Yes, it's true; awards like these are hokum in the main. But to repeat, fair's fair. Todd Coleman deserves recognition for his perseverance, as well as his decision to upgrade his properties. Let's hope DNA finally "gets it," if not this year (noting the "finish by" requirements), then the next.

From DNA's website:

Pillar Renaissance Award
The Pillar Renaissance Award is intended to recognize an individual, business or organization that has made a significant investment in physical improvements to the downtown and uptown areas. One to three awards will be granted in any one year.

The investment might be in renovating historic structure, building a new structure, or renovating a non-historic structure and should have been substantially completed in the previous year ending May 31st. The number of awards granted will be determined by the Directors of the award program based upon nominations received.

Pillar Horizon Award
The Pillar Horizon Award recognizes a new or emerging business or organization. Nominees should have been in downtown or uptown areas five years or less.

Pillar Foundation Award
The Pillar Foundation Award recognizes a business or organization that has proved to be a foundation to the downtown or uptown areas.

Nominees must have been in business for 10 years or more

Pillar Achievement Award
The Pillar Achievement Award recognizes an individual who has made a significant contribution to the downtown or uptown areas. The contribution may be through one significant project or through years of ongoing service.

Examples Include:​

• An individual in public service who has demonstrated commitment to the business districts.
• An individual affiliated with a business or non-profit organization who has personally contributed to the downtown or uptown areas.
• An individual who has been responsible for a specific renovation or development project.

ASK THE BORED: Is consistency among BOW's mandates when it debates street closings?

It's possible the Board of Public Works and Safety might actually be trying to regain a sense of consistency.

Time will tell.

What we know from the minutes of January 14 is that the Regions Antique Automobile Club came to BOW well ahead of time to ask for a street closing (Market from Bank to State) for four hours on a Thursday evening (August 20).

Mrs. Cotner Bailey raised the valid point that it would inconvenience businesses and residents. Mrs. Jarboe noted that her equally sensible suggestion to move the event to the amphitheater was rejected by the club. Then Mr. Nash stated the board needs to have a conversation about street closure requests and event permits coming in so far ahead of time.

You'd think the board would appreciate advance notice, but still, these are reasonable considerations overall.

How, then, to explain the board's perennial enthusiasm for the NA Blues, Brews and Barbecue Fest, which a mere four months ago blocked the entirety of Market between Pearl and State for two and a half days, inconvenienced businesses and residents so an on-street KOA campground could be erected atop the city's new median, and would be much more efficiently staged if it were to be relocated ... to the amphitheater?

There is no explanation, at least not yet. If the board's brush-off of the Antique Automobile Club means it finally intends to have these conversations and grasp the need for consistency, that's very good and I for one support it.

If not, it's just more of the same hypocrisy -- primarily from BOW's superannuated figurehead.

The following was published here last September.

---

Beginning tonight -- Thursday evening at 6:00 p.m. -- both traffic lanes on Market Street between State and Pearl will be closed until Sunday morning. Sidewalks will not be blocked.

The reason for the closure is to allow public space for professional BBQ teams to cook their meats for the weekend NA Blues, Brews and Barbecue Fest. You are encouraged to attend this event.

Speaking personally, if we're to be genuinely walkable as a city, then disruptions like this are of little or no consequence.

However, reality on the ground dictates this reminder that there's a parking garage at the corner of State and Market, and parking by the levee at the foot of Pearl -- and quite a few curbside parking spaces everywhere, even on a busy weekends, just a short distance from the event and the affected businesses on both sides of the closed segment of Market Street.

It should be seasonable the next few evenings. If you're driving, park somewhere and have a nice walk, then a bite and a drink. Don't have too much of the latter if you're driving.

And ponder the question of why we purpose-built Bicentennial Park to be problematic and barely usable for events, and naturally insist on constantly using it for such events even when the Riverfront Amphitheater would be far more appropriate.

Turn the page: Destinations Booksellers is closing after 15 years at 604 E. Spring St.

This just came over the Facebook wire. I've spoken with Randy Smith, and he gives permission to reprint his comments on social media. 

---

Good-bye, New Albany. We're closing the store in the next 3-4 weeks. With very limited exceptions, every book is on sale for from 50% to 90% off. All equipment, including shelving, cases, racks, and all kitchen equipment is also for sale.

Before we came here, New Albany had been without a full-service general new books store since 1947. After nearly 16 years, it's time to say "so long."

CONSIGNED BOOKS: We still have books here that were consigned by authors and I don't have the authority to discount these. If you are an author who has consigned books to Destinations Booksellers, please come and claim your books within the next 3 weeks or email us with instructions for disposal or return. I will try to contact each of you, but it will be your responsibility to reclaim your inventory.

What can you do? Please stop by to say good-bye if you can. We have an amazing collection of great books. I selected them all and they can be yours at incredible prices. If you or your organization need shelving, we can fix you up. If you need tables, chairs, shelves, racks, kitchen utensils and equipment, and more, this will be a great month to get them.

Ann and I were happy to bring this store to New Albany. I want to extend my thanks first to her for supporting the store. Next, I want to thank the 40 or so employees who maintained our levels of service over the years. Shout-outs to Sophie Riggs and Andy Terrell, who were true MVPs. Finally, I wish to express my great appreciation to our patrons. You truly were PATRONS in the sense that you believed it was important to have a locally owned bookstore and that you continued to rely on us to serve you.

Although we're leaving our bricks-and-mortar store after 16 years, we are exploring options to maintain a bookstore in New Albany. It won't be at 604 E. Spring Street, but there are some ideas that have been suggested. A few years ago, we conducted a pilot co-op program for a members-only operation that, though small, went quite well. If we were to expand that to scale, Destinations might go on without a showroom. Maybe. And if there's someone (or someones) with a dream of owning a bookstore, we can explore the possibilities of transferring some of our assets and accounts to help fulfill your dream.

I sincerely believe that one of the measures of a city is the existence of a locally-owned bookstore. It is with true regret that we won't be able to maintain this resource for our community. You should all be commended for supporting us as long as you did and we will join you in lamenting the loss of the resource. After all, we need a bookstore as much as you do. Nonetheless, we thank you for the support you did lend to our little store. It was nice while we had it, wasn't it?

The location will not be vacant. There's a new tenant coming that I think you'll all be thrilled about. It's an established New Albany business that will be taking over the lease and transforming this part of downtown. Watch for news coming later.

If you're an institutional customer (organizations that typically buy from us once a year), get in touch. We can, if you want, continue to help you with those bulk purchases.

We'll still be available for book orders over the next few weeks, but if you're interested in these on-sale books and equipment, please just stop by; that is, don't call, come in. Email us at destinationsbooksellers@gmail.com, if you just want to message us. We won't be responding to Facebook Messenger. Just use the email or come by.

Monnik Beer Company will open a second location in downtown New Albany at the former Bank Street Brewhouse.

Win, lose or draw -- and there was plenty of each from 2009 through 2019 -- NABC's Bank Street Brewhouse was my baby, and now that one of my jobs is to report on such matters as its revitalization into Monnik in Hoosierland, I was absolutely determined to get the scoop.

EXCLUSIVE: Monnik Beer Co. plans brewery, kitchen in New Albany at the former NABC facility, by Roger Baylor (Food & Dining Magazine)

Monnik Beer Co. opened in Germantown in 2015 and enjoys a reputation as one of Louisville’s finest breweries. Meanwhile the New Albanian Brewing Company’s Bank Street Brewhouse production brewery in downtown New Albany was shuttered in May, 2019 after ten years of making beer and memories.

Now it’s 2020, and construction continues as Monnik works toward a location in Indiana at the former Bank Street Brewery building (415 Bank Street, New Albany).

The original NABC Pizzeria & Public House (founded in 1987) continues to bake pizzas and brew beer at 3312 Plaza Drive on New Albany’s north side ...

Following are photos I took on December 15, only two of which were needed in the article. Like me, you might be mourning the disappearance of BSB's unique concrete bar top, which evidently has given way to the imperative of kitchen expansion.

But this is small beer. The most important part of this story is the fact it's happening -- along with the February advent of Recbar 812 a block away, The Exchange's "Tavern Hall" expansion into the adjacent former Feast BBQ space, Board and You's future location on Pearl, and whatever else I'm missing.

And a tale of two artistic renderings.

Recbar 812's humorous "opening February 3" announcement.

Recbar 812 made the best of construction delays, turning the situation into gently self-deprecating laughs.

"When are you opening in New Albany?" The burning question of the year. It's been a much longer process than we ever would have planned and we appreciate everyone's support. We know Fall 2019 has come and gone but Santa is rewarding your patience with an opening date. February 3, 2020, Recbar 812 will open it's doors to over 200 games, a full bar & delicious grub menu! Merry Christmas from the entire Recbar Crew! #almostthere

Recbar 812's location is the southeast corner of Spring and Pearl, across from Bicentennial Park. Did I mention the grand opening is slated for February 3?

Marcus Green at WDRB: " ‘Shermageddon’ 2? New Albany waits for Sherman Minton Bridge plan."

WDRB's Marcus Green does a great job outlining the options and implications of the Sherman Minton Bridge Renewal repair project, which is ever closer to starting.

It's ironic. The next five years of life in New Albany, especially downtown, will be determined by the ripple effects of the bridge repair project, given that we're a purely automobile-centric metropolitan area.

It is of immense significance, but had a space alien been monitoring the recently concluded municipal election, she'd have noted almost no mention of it. 

Jeff Gahan has ruled like an Oriental despot for eight years with nary an unexpected challenge to test his fundamental dullness of character. Here comes a big one, Slickster. I hope you and your groveling sycophants are up for it.

SUNDAY EDITION | ‘Shermageddon’ 2? New Albany waits for Sherman Minton Bridge plan, by Marcus Green (WDRB)

NEW ALBANY, Ind. (WDRB) – The Sherman Minton Bridge rises behind the Floyd County Brewing Co., where owner Brian Hampton sells beer and food in a medieval setting inspired by Monty Python and Old World public houses.

Hampton, who grew up in Louisville, said he chose New Albany for his venture four years ago because of the southern Indiana city's redevelopment boom, economic incentives, affordable cost of doing business and proximity to Kentucky via the Sherman Minton Bridge.

In fact, he said, the restaurant and brewpub is increasingly gaining new customers from across the Ohio River – the sometimes psychological barrier between the two states.

"We have worked so hard since we opened to try to break that stigma down and draw people to come from Louisville," Hampton said. "We're finally getting some traction to that. But all it takes is just one reason to say, 'No. I'll just stay where I'm at.'"

In the coming months, Indiana transportation officials will make a key decision that will affect Hampton and other New Albany business owners, civic leaders and residents: How to manage traffic when the 57-year-old Sherman Minton Bridge undergoes a massive rehabilitation in 2021.

Hull & High Water is winding down, so go over there and say goodbye.

As I reported earlier at Food & Dining Magazine, Hull & High Water is winding down. Owner Eric Morris made the announcement earlier today at Facebook. 

Apparently the restaurant will be closed today and tomorrow, reopening on Wednesday and running through product until it's time to stop, perhaps in a few days. 

It's your chance to stop by, have a drink and a bite, and say a proper goodbye. Eric brought a lot of energy downtown, first with Gospel Bird and then Hull, and I'm sure you'll join me in wishing him the best in his future endeavors. 

I'm saddened, but my guess is this commercial space won't stay empty for long. 

GIVE GAHAN THE BOOT: (Monday) The Reisz Mahal luxury city hall, perhaps the signature Gahan boondoggle.

Last week was Harvest Homecoming, and my city's favorite festival kept me pinned to the tarmac, but now we're back to what passes for normal here in New Gahania, where "We're All Here Because We're Not All THERE."

There was no time to conjure a column during Harvest Homecoming, so this week as a run-up to Decision 2019, I'm headed back into the ON THE AVENUES archive for five straight days of devastatingly persuasive arguments against four more years of the Gahan Family Values Personality Cult.

I've already made the argument for Mark Seabrook as mayor here. Now let's return to the voluminous case against Gahanism in five informative and entertaining installments.

GIVE GAHAN THE BOOT: (Monday) The Reisz Mahal luxury city hall, perhaps the signature Gahan boondoggle.

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June 21, 2018

ON THE AVENUES: Government Lives Matter, so it's $10,000,000 for Gahan's luxury city hall clique enhancement. Happy dumpster diving, peasants!

A weekly column by Roger A. Baylor.

If someone ignored the "no soliciting" sign on your porch and clambered up to the door, breathlessly offering to sell you a gizmo with the promise that the mere fact of owning it will save you all kinds of money, there are many good questions you might ask.

Of course, you might also command the huckster to vacate your porch, or else. I generally do. But in order to determine whether the peddler's product is a sound investment, one specific question tops the list:

How much does it cost?

Mayor Jeff Gahan is a former veneer salesman with a well-honed, thoroughly greasy sales pitch, and he thinks you're too stupid to ask how much a new city hall is going to cost you -- in tax dollars.

The (Reisz) project will save millions of dollars over time, as the city has paid costs in its current location for over 57 years. It will also help the surrounding businesses see their private investment backed up by pubic investment.

Take a magnifying glass to the undisguised gloating amid yesterday's city hall press release, stating that the multi-million dollar Reisz renovation is a done deal and a fixed formality, and further opposition from the likes of YOU is plainly useless, and you'll find absolutely no mention of the price tag.

Please allow me to fill in this blank.

The Reisz cost commitment already has topped $10,000,000 in a city where perhaps a quarter of the residents live below the poverty line; where Gahan and his new unofficial deputy mayor and slavish devotee David Barksdale are eager to demolish half of the city's public housing units; and where city hall has yet to mention aloud minor details like the opioid epidemic, the accompanying rise in thievery and petty crime, homelessness, and the worsening plight of our city's working poor.

The sloganeering is so oppressive that a Trump rally seems like the knitter's circle coffee klatsch by comparison.

Government lives matter!

(so, let's literally quadruple the size of municipal government)

Buildings not people!

(because elite cliques need historic fetishes, too)

If you have to ask what it costs, you can't afford it!

(it might be the only truthful statement yet uttered by these purported Democrats)

Team Gahan and affiliates can do the math, all right, so long as most of it is concealed.

What eludes them is simple human empathy.

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Last week the News and Tribune's most inconsistent editor got to work defending the imperatives of government buildings over those of residents.

He begins by inferring an economic ripple effect from a single government-occupied building, without bothering to try to interpret economic conditions and trends downtown.

MORRIS: Reisz rehab would give downtown a boost, by Chris Morris (Where Multiple Tom Mays Roam)

 ... But the area needs another boost. Some businesses have closed recently while others are struggling. Just think what could happen with a vibrant city hall in a refurbished Reisz building, in the heart of our downtown. With life put back into a building that has sat empty for years, others may decide to invest and open a business, or at the very least visit the downtown. The downtown needs this project.

Morris saves his weakest argument for last.

I am a fan of uni-gov — otherwise known as one government for New Albany and Floyd County, and being in favor of adding another government building to the tax rolls goes against that theory. Uni-gov would eliminate duplicated services, there wouldn’t be these power struggles or personality conflicts, and it would save taxpayers money. Too much government only gets in the way of people trying to live their lives ...

 ... So why would I support spending money to rehabilitate this building, guaranteeing two separate government buildings just blocks apart? Even with a uni-gov the City-County Building will be needed for office space and to allow the courts to expand. That building is also in need of some renovation, but that is for another day ...

... It’s a big move but one I think the city needs to take. There are no other options on the table for the building and this makes the most sense. The downtown needs a boost, and putting city hall inside the Reisz Furniture building may be exactly what is needed. It’s worth the gamble.

Worth the $10,000,000 (or more) gamble, like it's Monopoly money?

If there is a consistent theme to the prevailing Reisz apologetic, it echoes the immortal words of Basil Fawlty: "Don't mention the cost!"

Or: Don't mention the opportunity cost, because we'll be spending an extra $400,000 a year for one government building when the money might be combined with private sector investments to assist dozens of other deserving historic structures downtown and those small businesses and residences occupying them, as well as incentivizing infill construction to fill vacant lots.

Alas, we've long understood that Morris's veneration of "respectable" authority is such that he'll automatically take the side of anyone and anything he's loosely capable of identifying as a selfless community pillar.

Morris comes perilously close to openly acknowledging that this fact-free approach is contradictory as it pertains to uni-gov, and yet he churns out the logic sausage as predictably as Team Gahan and HWC Engineering render Jeff Speck's walkability into more of the same car-centrism.

I asked the newspaper for a similar word count in rebuttal. To my mild surprise, the offer was accepted, and I wrote the following. It was published yesterday; this is the "Director's Cut," leaving intact two passages I was asked by the editor to remove. You'll probably be able to guess which ones.

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Last week the News and Tribune’s Chris Morris supported governmental intervention ostensibly aimed at “saving” the Reisz Furniture Warehouse by renovating it into a lavish new city hall.

I’d love to see Reisz put to use, just not like this. To understand why, let’s follow the money.

Dating to 1852, the Reisz building has been a flour mill, funeral home and shirt factory. Purchased by Schmitt Furniture in 1988, it served mostly as cheap storage.

At any point during three decades, Schmitt might have opted to “save” Reisz but didn’t, and so a central point of Mayor Jeff Gahan’s case for adaptive reuse is a suddenly urgent need to rectify the "dilapidated” building’s “neglect” (his words).

Apparently there are no penalties in New Albany for structure abuse.

Last August the Redevelopment Commission authorized funds for Gahan’s relocation project, at the time neither subject to an RFP (request for proposal), nor approved by city council. Detailed explanations were offered by Denton Floyd Real Estate Group, with whom Gahan is partnering, as though the deal already had been sealed.

Perhaps this occurred when former redevelopment tsar David Duggins accompanied Denton Floyd last fall for a limousine junket to Keeneland.

By May of 2018, the RFP formality was hurdled. $750,000 passed from Redevelopment to Denton Floyd, including the purchase price of $390,000, with the remainder to empty the building of junk.

Denton Floyd would complete the 23,000-square-foot buildout for city hall’s relocation (currently City Hall uses 6,500 sq. ft. at the City County Building), with a 15-year “rent to own” lease.

Yearly payments will be $570,000, or $8,500,000 over 15 years. By comparison, $200,000 during the same period in the City County Building totals $3,000,000. Another $500,000 is approved for office furnishings, surely a low estimate.

Ten months ago the city’s combined yearly cost at Reisz was estimated at $215,000. It’s more than tripled since then, with just shy of $10,000,000 committed to the project. The total cost of ownership inevitably will rise; in addition to inevitable price hikes, county officials insist the city remains bound to its current landlord. Lawsuits are likely.

20% of the city’s population lives below the poverty line, yet Gahan, who concurrently seeks to demolish half our public housing units, wants to spend an additional $370,000 - $400,000 yearly on city offices, citing the ripple effects of economic development that relocation will generate.

We should be asking whether these ripple effects are real or imagined.

The most persistent advocate of the Reisz project is David Barksdale, historic preservationist and city councilman, who thinks Reisz must be renovated at any cost, and presumably, since limitless costs are government’s responsibility, seeks largess from a bottomless well of cash.

Barksdale touts the project as “skin in the game,” a way of showing downtown stakeholders that City Hall stands with them.

After all, entrepreneurs and small independent business owners have invested $60 million or more into downtown during the past decade, while enjoying few of the subsidies available to suburban industrial park occupants.

Barksdale’s argument is flawed. Private investors spend their own money, but the money required for the municipality’s funding of a single speculative historic preservation project isn’t cash from Gahan’s or Barksdale’s pockets.

Rather, this “skin” belongs to the city’s taxpayers – and they haven’t been asked.

Naturally downtown stakeholders need functional “skin” in the game, this being shared, collective infrastructure, including streets, sewers, police and firefighters. These are grassroots needs, citywide.

City Hall spending almost $10 million on itself? That’s a top-down want.

Some compare a new city hall with the YMCA. It’s absurd. The YMCA brings people downtown who might not otherwise come. Moving city offices three whole blocks changes nothing. The same workers come to work, and they eat the same lunch. There is no net gain.

Furthermore, a relocated city hall threatens to bump Harvest Homecoming’s kiddie rides from its current location, posing a financial hardship for the city’s premier annual festival.

As for the exaggerated rhetoric of historic preservation, $7 million for one additional restored historic building won’t be diverting tour buses.

Numerous structures of historic significance lie within a five minute stroll of Reisz. No study has been conducted to determine whether one of them might be suitable as city hall. No other options even have been considered. If floated as a referendum, this relocation boondoggle probably would lose 70%-30%, or worse.

Ironically Morris, a proponent of unified city-county government (uni-gov), can’t see that Gahan’s interest in city hall relocation is politically motivated, having nothing to do with historic preservation or the Reisz building itself apart from the utility of prying away Barksdale’s council vote to restore Gahan’s control of an otherwise lapsed majority.

City hall’s relocation addresses Gahan’s pathological hatred of uni-gov. He’d secede from the county if allowed, and he’d relocate HQ to a suitably luxurious pole barn if one existed. Plainly, the aim is political preservation for Gahan and Democrats, and Reisz is just one move in a chess game to stave off power-sharing with the county.

Shouldn’t we wait until municipal elections in 2019 to discuss moving city hall?

Let your councilman know this mandate (if any) should come from the people, not the city’s ruling elites.

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See also:

June 12, 2018: ON THE AVENUES: Histrionic preservation? $8.5 million to gift Jeff Gahan with a luxury city hall "want" is simply obscene in a time of societal need.