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Post by capncrunch on Sept 2, 2014 7:30:01 GMT -6
Greek God, I will have to also say, B&R is also good for having products that the other stores don't have. My son loves the sandwiches that he receives from Grant Street grocery, and the meat from Harcars, I know is good. And always have a good small.
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Post by toshiko on Sept 2, 2014 8:37:57 GMT -6
From sniper's post."FWIW, Streator will be the loser when you do move on." And ITA!!!!
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Post by dumdave on Sept 2, 2014 9:02:56 GMT -6
I agree. Every town or city benefits from a guy like Kyle to say "Wait, can't we do this another way?"
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Post by Kyle Mitchell on Sept 5, 2014 7:30:27 GMT -6
Thank You for the kind words.
MM, I disagree and feel that our local government can be blamed for local conditions. It is not a state law that required the sign to come off the Murray building, lowering it's value, limiting the chance of a business using the space and limiting the success of a business that may choose to locate there. It is a lack of local enforcement that allows the bar fights to continue, substantiating and perpetuating Streator's rough reputation that keeps people and their money away from our downtown. It was our local government that gave out a requirement that goes against our laws for an Aquaponics business, stopping it. It was our local government that declared business owners illegal residents when they weren't.
Is tomorrow Streator's illegal sidewalk sale? About a year ago our Mayor said that we should wait to see what the Downtown Plan calls for in regards to merchandise being allowed to be displayed outside. At the meeting for business owners to provide input for the Downtown Plan, I had talked about allowing limited professional merchandise displays. There was much support and no opposition. I also commented at the public hearing on the plan that it should be added, however there is no mention of the matter in the plan. Our ordinances still make the sidewalk sale illegal unless the business owners have obtained a Special Use Permit. It seems that our Mayor is very against allowing merchandise to be displayed outside.
I really don't see why business's that want to participate in sidewalk sales or display some items outside their stores should have to do so illegally. Having some mums outside of the flower shop lets people driving down Main St. know that something is open. I just don't see why we wouldn't want that here.
These overly restrictive ordinances with selective enforcement seem to be a common practice with them. They are not fair and not good for business here.
Our local government can correct these problems and give business owners more tools to be successful but they don't. I think they are a big part to blame for the excessive lack of business in our downtown.
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Post by Kyle Mitchell on Sept 6, 2014 10:53:33 GMT -6
I have known some non-profit theatres to provide a good service to movie-goers. The Loft in Tucson is my favorite.
Maybe Tim should have set up his business to be a non-profit after he kicked me out. He always seemed to have the attitude that the people of Streator owed him something for "saving" the Majestic. He wanted us to ask for donations, but we didn't feel that it was appropriate.
John Grieves won't answer my phone calls or questions about the digital equipment not being included or a lowered asking price. I don't think he likes me now since I've asked so many questions. Maybe someone else could call and find out if the price has been lowered now that the digital projectors are not there.
I think that Tim is asking way too much for his building that needs way too much work. If someone had a huge amount of money that they wanted to donate it could be possible. There are places that have municipally owned theatres, but Streator's not being able to even afford enforcement of our laws to keep drunks from brawling in front of the theatre so that more people might want to attend, certainly doesn't seem like a good situation for our City to buy an over priced theatre that needs lots of work.
I did hear from two sources, one being a City official, that Northpoint is being looked at by a chain. Furnishing a stripped out theatre like that would require about a million dollar investment. I really don't see that happening for a declining market like Streator, but sometimes there are other factors involved. This particular chain may be very unhappy that the owner of the Roxy is expanding into their area and they could be looking for a way to retaliate. For a big chain, spending that kind of money to try to hurt competition 20 minutes away, is not unheard of.
It will be interesting to see what does happen there, but I doubt that the Majestic will ever be anything again. RIP Majestic.
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Post by Solitaire on Sept 7, 2014 18:20:51 GMT -6
Would the owner of Roxy ever consider buying the old RMC Cinema?
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Post by Deleted on Sept 8, 2014 6:31:21 GMT -6
Kyle, I do agree with that Tim is asking too much for that building. I don't see why anyone would want to buy that building considering that it needs work. Repairs and upgrades are not cheap. And from my understanding the radio station was wanting to do a story on the theatre and the owner and that Kate what her name is would not answer. I am one that has gone to see movies there. And my children and wife has too.
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Post by Kyle Mitchell on Sept 8, 2014 6:55:18 GMT -6
Would the owner of Roxy ever consider buying the old RMC Cinema? I hardly doubt it. Not having films play in Streator increases Roxy's business. He is expanding into larger markets that show growth potential. Streator's population declining so much is a huge problem.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 8, 2014 19:00:54 GMT -6
Kyle is right. Businesses look at the population and what a town can offer. Don't exactly remember when, but I do remember a while ago the city officials had business people come in town and they was told to use hotels in a different town.
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Post by greekgod on Sept 8, 2014 20:14:59 GMT -6
Kyle is right. Businesses look at the population and what a town can offer. Don't exactly remember when, but I do remember a while ago the city officials had business people come in town and they was told to use hotels in a different town. emachine, If you don't remember when, do you remember the source? If not, I think I would consider it a rumor. g
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Post by Deleted on Sept 9, 2014 9:23:43 GMT -6
It was through word of mouth. So yeah, I would have to say your right, it could very well been a rumor.
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Post by Kyle Mitchell on Sept 9, 2014 15:20:04 GMT -6
I found the article about the Majestic in today's paper pretty interesting.
Does anyone really believe that Tim's building appraised for anywhere near $400,000 in 2008?
Maybe he will provide that appraisal through his realtor, wouldn't it be a good marketing tool if it were anywhere near the truth? Why would he be offering it for sale with $120,000 of brand new state of the art digital equipment at over 30% below its last appraised value?
I am thinking that it appraised at less than half of what he says. I remember when he got that 2008 loan and am confident that he would have gotten more cash out of the place if it would have been possible.
He says that he spent a lot of time and money to bring the theatre to operating condition. What does he consider operating condition?
When I moved to Streator to open the theatre, the Health Department wouldn't allow the sales of food or drink without a 3 compartment sink. I was the one working hard to expand the concession stand to put in the sink that I brought from Arizona so that it could be operated as a theatre. If you could see what the Granada or a lot of the rest of the theatre looked like back then you would know that it wasn't in operation condition.
Water was running through the building in the box office and the balcony at the south wall back then. I was working on repairs, but the water leaks were big projects. Maybe some people remember seeing me lowering many, many buckets of rock off the marquee to get to a roof that needed replacing. He tried to disguise the water damage in the balcony, but it needed much more than just some tar smeared on the roof to solve the real problem. I don't believe that he ever took care of the problems that should be the building owner's responsibility, but now he wants to blame other people for problems that were there before they even took over.
He is now trying to make people believe that he had a solution for the digital conversion that wouldn't involve donations, but if he did, why wait until after the equipment paid for by donations was installed before locking his partners out? He is trying to claim that his partner didn't communicate with him is why she didn't know that there was no need to ask for donations, that is ridiculous. Why didn't he communicate with her, if he had it covered (I really doubt it)? So, he should be putting that equipment in now and opening the place back up, right? Is he really trying to make anyone think that he didn't know about the years of the corporation that he is president of asking for donations? I am confident that he not only knew about but supported the solicitation for hand outs.
I bet that he really thought that he was going to pull a fast one by selling the building to get the value of the donated projectors and screw over his partners at the same time. What he actually ended up doing though is screwing over the entire community.
I think he committed fraud by accepting donations and then not delivering on the intentions of the donations. I think he deserves to sit in a prison cell for what he has done.
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Post by Anonymous on Sept 9, 2014 15:40:11 GMT -6
Kyle is right. Businesses look at the population and what a town can offer. Don't exactly remember when, but I do remember a while ago the city officials had business people come in town and they was told to use hotels in a different town. emachine, If you don't remember when, do you remember the source? If not, I think I would consider it a rumor. g I wonder if emachine is thinking of an article The Times ran in 2011? That's what immediately came to my mind when I read emachine's post. Here is the article: Lodging elsewhere -- Clients staying outside of Streator a sting to development Posted: Sunday, January 2, 2011 6:43 pm Derek Barichello Vince Luckey of Luckey Trucking says his customers and vendors from out of town will not lodge in Streator. JoAnn Fenton of St. Mary's Hospital says doctors from out of town stay elsewhere. Occasionally, Mary Jane Funke at Vactor Manufacturing hears the same. Community business leaders raised the issue at an economic development breakfast earlier this month. The city has three hotels along Route 23. There are plenty of vacancies, but visitors are not staying. "There is a limited number of options to stay within the community, in regard to both availability and quality," said Paul Nicholson, Streator city manager. "It presents a real challenge." Every guest who stays outside of the city represents missed tax dollars. It also increases the likelihood of such people skipping a local restaurant or eschewing a tank of gas at the local station. "There's no question the City Council is aware of the problem," Nicholson said. "Not having business clients stay within the city has a chain reaction that affects many businesses. It is also a matter of pride. We want people to stay here." Funke sends her clients to the Budget Inn and Suites at 1705 N. Bloomington St. The 38-room hotel has an indoor pool and exercise facility. It offers free breakfast and high-speed Internet along with most competitive chains. "We've found their hotel satisfactory," said Funke, Vactor's human resources manager. "I try to keep people in town, unless they request otherwise, and some still do." The America's Best Value Inn at 2110 N. Bloomington St. has 60 motel-style guest rooms and The Pines Motel on Route 23 offers more motel-style rooms. Management for both establishments were unavailable for comment. Rocky Patel, the hotel manager at Budget Inn, does not believe the onus relies solely on hotel owners. He feels his business loses out to Ottawa's chains because of accessibility to Interstate 80 and more dining and shopping options. "We stay in contact with the chamber of commerce to accommodate the community's needs," said Patel, who also provides rooms for the American Red Cross. "We added an indoor pool and exercise facility to be more competitive, but a lot of customers go to Ottawa because it is a bigger city and it has more options." Jack Dzuris, executive director of the Streator Area Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said the Chamber has tried to reach out to hotel chains to establish business and provide more options. "There are a lot of them out there, but nobody is racing to the door to open up here," he said. "We've heard that they'll consider it as the community grows and that's a possibility with Walmart, but a lot of them are not interested because there is no major highway running through here." Nicholson believes Walmart will make Streator a more attractive draw because of the businesses it will bring around it. For now, Patel would like to see city officials approach hotel owners with suggested improvements. "If they are staying out of town, why?" he said. "That's what we need to know. If there's anything we can do to improve, tell us and we can make improvements."
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Post by mommytoo4 on Sept 9, 2014 16:18:47 GMT -6
The answer is real easy "why do people stay elsewhere", because the hotel is disgusting, it is filthy, nothing works, the people are rude, I wouldn't send my dog there.
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Post by oldtimer on Sept 9, 2014 16:23:55 GMT -6
The answer is real easy "why do people stay elsewhere", because the hotel is disgusting, it is filthy, nothing works, the people are rude, I wouldn't send my dog there. Ever since wilkeys sold town and country it has obviously went down hill.
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