In New Gahania, only the riverside squatters survive.

A few years ago, there were several riverfront dwellings. One by one they've disappeared, so as to clear the way for the Ohio River Greenway. So have a couple hundred trees, but that's another unfortunate story. The property that used to occupy the cleared space in the above photo was actually well kept. Was it squatting, or did City Hall buy out the owners?

Then there's the New Albany Boat Club. It clearly was squatting for decades (see links below), but was given an 11th-hour reprieve when City Hall exercised eminent domain against a property owner who'd only just emerged victorious in a lengthy court fight against the squatters -- who were given back the property, which hadn't been theirs in the first place, by a City Hall that operates by divine decree, and not rule of law.  

Jeeebus, these villainies are tiresome.

August 27, 2016
Greenway work begins, but when it comes to the boat club, the fix is still in.

October 21, 2015
The Green Mouse muses on the Greenway, eminent domain lawsuits, squatting and the New Albany Boat Club.

Greenway work begins, but when it comes to the boat club, the fix is still in.

And yet these questions remains unanswered.

ON THE AVENUES: Federal funding mechanisms total eighty percent. The other half is unalloyed political malice.

What is the true story behind the New Albany Boat Club returning to its moorings and building astride the prospective Greenway?

And here:

GRAPHIC CONTENT WARNING: Greenway timbering east of the (former?) boat club.

If the boat club is coming back, it can only be at the behest of the city. But why?

Note to all the ambitious young journalists: Ask city officials to explain the boat club saga, and the eminent domain story that accompanies it. They don't want to talk about it. This should tell us all something important. Thanks.

Now, to the triumphant installation of vehicular "recreational" (that's a cruel bureaucratic euphemism, isn't it?) roadways where shared-use walking and bicycle paths should exclusively be.

But wait: Maybe "recreational" should be read as "access road to the boat club" -- right, Chris Gardner?

Greenway work to start in New Albany next week, by Madeleine Winer (Courier-Journal)

Construction on New Albany's $2.5 million portion of the Ohio River Greenway project will start next week.

The work will extend the greenway from East 8th Street to East 18th Street. Water Street will be restricted to local traffic only early next week, according to a release from the Indiana Department of Transportation. The over three-quarters of a mile of construction will include two boardwalks, a recreational road and a shared-use trail.

GRAPHIC CONTENT WARNING: Greenway timbering east of the (former?) boat club.

It's odd.

In 2015, the Green Mouse was told that after years of legal efforts, the owner of the property where the New Albany Boat Club has been squatting all this time finally succeeded in displacing it.

Yesterday I saw a few vehicles at the boat club, and a dumpster being filled. The club's docks are stacked a couple hundred yards away. Is the club coming back? The city undertook eminent domain proceedings against this very same property owner, whose land extends beyond the flood wall and includes the boat club and right of way for the Greenway project.

If the boat club is coming back, it  can only be at the behest of the city. But why?

Meanwhile, a whole slew of healthy, mature trees have been cut. We now know the excuses reasons for this: The Greenway master plan said so, and the timbering had to come before the bats in JOhn Rosenbarger's belfry begin nesting. Has any previous mayor felled as many trees as Jeff Gahan?

And do we or don't we have a Tree Board?

The Green Mouse muses on the Greenway, eminent domain lawsuits, squatting and the New Albany Boat Club.

Market, Elm -- whatever. After all, they're both one-way streets.

The Green Mouse muses on the Greenway, eminent domain lawsuits, squatting and the New Albany Boat Club.

2:25 p.m. update: Please see the blog comments for relevant updates from Ann and Dan. When I have time to return to this, I'll broaden the court records search and see what comes bobbing to the surface.

We know that the third phase of New Albany's contribution to the Ohio River Greenway will begin soon, and will involve the section demarcated by 8th Street and 18th Street extended.

In response to a Fb question last week about how this section of the route is to be configured, I spent couple of hours reading Greenway Commission minutes dating back to 2011, and will continue to chip away at the research as time permits.

Meanwhile, last week, we considered a topic overheard by the Green Mouse via the rumorama.

Eminent domain? Is an Ohio River marina yet another Gahan expenditure on the down low?

I'm wondering if the rumorama perhaps has confused separate issues: The perennially recurring discussion of marina options somewhere on the river at an undefined future juncture, and the existence of the entity known as the New Albany Boat Club (NABC).

As recently as 2013, the Greenway Commission was being told by New Albany's functionaries that as land acquisition continued, easements were being sought from the New Albany Boat Club. At the same approximate time, or earlier, the boat club appears to have been the subject of a lawsuit from the same property owner, Daniel Meyer, who now faces eminent domain proceedings.

As you can see, Meyer's property laps over the flood wall at 10th Street, hence the city's legal challenge as Greenway build-out preparations begin.

Simply stated, it seems the boat club was squatting for decades, although as yet, I cannot locate records of the landowner vs, boat club lawsuit. Is the boat club gone from this spot?

The newly instigated city vs. Meyer suit has just now appeared on the state's court portal, and one of the first actions listed is the boat club's request to be left out of it as a defendant -- presumably because it doesn't own the land, anyway.

If anyone reading can shed a bit of daylight on these maneuverings, I'd appreciate it. For some reason, city officials seldom speak to me any longer.

Following are photos of the scene, with the approach south on 10th Street toward the flood wall's doorway (mentioned as an access component of the Greenway work to come), then east along the existing vehicular road. There is another building adjacent to the boat club, but the eGIS listings do not indicate a property owner other than the one currently involved with litigation.

Just beyond the boat club to the east, the property owner is identified as Eastridge LLC, formerly the city's chief environmental nemesis, now our favored demolition contractor ever since Silver Street Park was built and Dan Coffey could afford new wheels.

Metalkova -- you know, near where those soldiers were drinking that time.

Photo credit: The article.

The landscape of my blogging milieu is littered with half-finished series of essays documenting past travels. Among these sketches are bits documenting my only visit to Ljubljana in 1987.

Red Star, Black Mountain: Welcome to Slovenia (Part 2)

Red Stars, Black Mountains: Mellow Ljubljana (Part 3).

It was Yugoslavia then, and now independent Slovenia, and as I was reading Niranan's article about Metalkova, it occurred to me to find the location at Google Maps.

Metalkova, the former army installation, lies right across the street from Ljubljana's train station, and this provides a direct connection with my late night arrival, way back when.

How an abandoned barracks in Ljubljana became Europe’s most successful urban squat, by Ajit Niranjan (The Guardian)

Just across the river from the sleepy old-town of central Ljubljana – a delicate maze of cobbled streets, medieval fortifications and colourful churches that characterise the many cities once occupied by the former Austro-Hungarian Empire – lie the dozen or so dilapidated buildings that make up what has become known as Slovenia’s second capital. On first glance, it is hard to believe it’s actually occupied. There are no signs directing visitors to its gates: the rubbish-strewn streets are eerily empty in the daylight, the graffiti covering the walls unread. But after dark, it becomes the focal point of the country’s alternative culture scene.

This is Metelkova Mesto – one the largest, and arguably most successful, urban squats in Europe. Sprawled across 12,500 sq m of an abandoned army base, the self-proclaimed city has become the leading centre of underground music and art in the region. Vivid, cracked-tile mosaics adorn the walls of the complex’s galleries and studios; rusty sculptures, fashioned from broken bike frames and upturned oil drums, cover its concrete gardens. And at night thousands of students and artists congregate to revel in its streets and bars.

Every year Metelkova Mesto hosts more than 1,500 alternative events in its illegally occupied buildings, catering to a wide spectrum of subcultures, from theatre performances and punk concerts to disability workshops and LGBT club nights. Together with the adjacent museum district, owned by the Slovenian Ministry of Culture – its vast courtyard showcasing the more traditional side of local nightlife, with young couples swing-dancing in the evening sun – the former barracks occupies a special place in the nation’s hearts.

Are squat scenes moveable?

It is Bastille Day, but my attention is drawn to this slice of German life:

Welcome to Berlin's squat scene, by Molly Gunn (Guardian/Observer).

Derelict buildings are reopening as 'living projects', offering everything from cheap food and parties to classical concerts.

Everytime I look at Bill Allen's building on Main Street ...