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Post by OutlawwithaSnipeSniper on Sept 10, 2014 15:47:55 GMT -6
Since we are talking about it, the Italian place that was at Northpoint right next to the Motel, man, the name escapes me, but they also have another one in Peoria, you could get the BEST sandwiches there, the bread was to die for, only place I ever was where the lettuce crunched when you bit into the sub, and they had spaghetti by the bucket at a reasonable price, wasn't half bad either..... Anyway, that place was always packed, yet they just up and closed......... Made me sad, that's for sure.
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Post by Kyle Mitchell on Sept 10, 2014 15:50:02 GMT -6
Maybe you should try to correct the underlying problem as to why it could not survive, the rough reputation that keeps many people and their money away from our downtown, the reputation that keeps getting substantiated and perpetuated each time their is another drunken street brawl here. Too bad our Mayor not only doesn't have a solution for the problem but doesn't want others to discuss solutions either. "Cleaning up Streator and its image should not be politicized", is what he says. Kyle, that may be a small part on why it closed. The Roxy would get many first run movies, the Majestic would get few. The Roxy offers what, 6 screens to view, the Majestic offers 2, so there are less choices.In general with the internet and home theaters, it is hard for ANY movie theater to compete. The first run deal is the biggest problem. People are impulsive, they want to see something as soon as it comes out. Look at the hype every time a new I Phone comes out. And lets face it, you are part of why the Majestic closed too. It was run a lot better when you were in control and with you taking over a theater only 20 miles away, people just chose to go there. You ran better promos at the Roxy or at least advertised them better than the Majestic did. Didnt you do many buy one get one free or something like that? Then on top of it, you kept highlighting the negatives in the area that kept people away, telling people that tourists were getting beat up. I give you credit, you did try to fix the problem, but then in the process you also created problems. The Majestic didn't miss out on many of the big blockbusters(the films that really matter) and had their pick from just about the same movies as the Roxy, that they would have room for. The movies that were not available to the Majestic because the film companies were releasing them only in digital were just as unavailable to the Roxy. The limitations of only two screens is obviously just part of the Majestic. However, the Majestic also had many advantages to attract people over the Roxy. I really feel that Mr. Endres was right and the Majestic should have been a tourist destination. Perhaps you may think that my highlighting the negatives is a problem, but do you really think that without my talking, people wouldn't find out that those things do go on? Do you think that Styreator's rough reputation only began after I started talking publicly about these problems? If I were able to go to our City leaders with these problems and get some results, instead of six years later reading on the front page about how excessive the bar violence still is, I wouldn't feel the need to keep talking about it. If our Mayor didn't violate our First Amendment right to discuss solutions to these problems or had a solution himself, maybe it wouldn't even be talked about as a reason the theatre is boarded up. Obviously there is some reason that businesses have such a hard time surviving here. You can think it is my talking about what does happen and our City leaders' lack of solutions if you want to or join oldtimer and blame the people of Streator for not supporting them, but I think that many people realize that City Hall is responsible for the lack of enforcement and the poor business environment here.
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Post by Kyle Mitchell on Sept 10, 2014 16:03:35 GMT -6
Man, can you imagine the masses that would show up in streator for cruise night, the great fireworks, light up streator, engle lane season, relay for life, etc, if people weren't too afraid to come here? Oh wait. They do. Guess they're only afraid to come to main st area, where the bars are. Oops, that's where cruise is. I never said that everyone were afraid to come here, but do you deny that Streator does have a rough reputation that does keep some people away? I think it is actually many people and a lot of money that these activities keep away. Can you honestly say that you have never heard anyone say that they wouldn't come to Streator because of our rough reputation? I could post some recent comments from others on the Times website and facebook page of people saying that they will not come here because of the problems that I talk about. A local reporter wrote that his buddies at college asked if he carried a weapon when they found out that he was from Streator. Do you not seriously have to wonder how big the masses could be for those great events if we were to actually clean up Streator and its image? How many more businesses, residents, etc. could we have if we weren't known as the community where drunken street brawls are allowed?
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Post by harleyrk on Sept 10, 2014 16:12:18 GMT -6
Mister Mike's in Lacon by the bridge/river excellent Italian beef with cheese and sweet or hot pepper's worth the trip give em a try.
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Post by harleyrk on Sept 10, 2014 16:13:42 GMT -6
Oldtimer I miss Murphy's cheeseburgers, fries, cherry 7up and the redskin peanuts.
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Post by dog on Sept 10, 2014 16:22:36 GMT -6
Since we are talking about it, the Italian place that was at Northpoint right next to the Motel, man, the name escapes me, but they also have another one in Peoria, you could get the BEST sandwiches there, the bread was to die for, only place I ever was where the lettuce crunched when you bit into the sub, and they had spaghetti by the bucket at a reasonable price, wasn't half bad either..... Anyway, that place was always packed, yet they just up and closed......... Made me sad, that's for sure. For some reason LaGondola sounds familiar.
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Post by oldtimer on Sept 10, 2014 16:28:55 GMT -6
Since we are talking about it, the Italian place that was at Northpoint right next to the Motel, man, the name escapes me, but they also have another one in Peoria, you could get the BEST sandwiches there, the bread was to die for, only place I ever was where the lettuce crunched when you bit into the sub, and they had spaghetti by the bucket at a reasonable price, wasn't half bad either..... Anyway, that place was always packed, yet they just up and closed......... Made me sad, that's for sure. I remembe that place. Was carryout. Something rigatta? Can't remember exact name.
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Post by oldtimer on Sept 10, 2014 16:29:33 GMT -6
Since we are talking about it, the Italian place that was at Northpoint right next to the Motel, man, the name escapes me, but they also have another one in Peoria, you could get the BEST sandwiches there, the bread was to die for, only place I ever was where the lettuce crunched when you bit into the sub, and they had spaghetti by the bucket at a reasonable price, wasn't half bad either..... Anyway, that place was always packed, yet they just up and closed......... Made me sad, that's for sure. For some reason LaGondola sounds familiar. Yes lagondola
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Post by dog on Sept 10, 2014 16:33:16 GMT -6
The Majestic didn't miss out on many of the big blockbusters(the films that really matter) and had their pick from just about the same movies as the Roxy, that they would have room for. The movies that were not available to the Majestic because the film companies were releasing them only in digital were just as unavailable to the Roxy. The limitations of only two screens is obviously just part of the Majestic. However, the Majestic also had many advantages to attract people over the Roxy. I really feel that Mr. Endres was right and the Majestic should have been a tourist destination. Perhaps you may think that my highlighting the negatives is a problem, but do you really think that without my talking, people wouldn't find out that those things do go on? You might be correct that the same movies might have been available, but I remember seeing a lot more movies at the Roxy because they had them and the Majestic didn't. They might have gotten them later on after they had been out for a while. Maybe your replacements at the Majestic just didn't pick the right ones. Like I said, you did a much better job of managing a theater than they did. I would agree that the grandeur of the Majestic has its appeal, but it didn't seem to be much of a draw, at least not enough of a draw to remain in business. I knew nothing of the man exposing himself or the number of fights at the bar until you brought it up. You are similar to a news outlet. Just like all the talk of the murders in Chicago scares some people from going there, your talk of what happens downtown scares people away too, although lack of enforcement and your broadcasting of the negatives probably accounts for a similar number of people not patronizing the downtown area.
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Post by dog on Sept 10, 2014 16:37:37 GMT -6
For some reason LaGondola sounds familiar. Yes lagondola It looks like they have 14 locations in the area, and they do list 1/2 gallon buckets of spaghetti. Might have to give them a try sometime.
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Post by dog on Sept 10, 2014 16:51:56 GMT -6
I think it was Regatta Pasta Villa and featured a gondola/torpedo type sub sandwich. It was certainly very similar to LaGondola. It was good and we got bread/sandwiches pretty often. I forget the name of the place, but Morris has a similar restaurant immediately West of the court house in the middle of the block. I certainly miss Savoias. The original owner of Maria's on Main St. was Vince Gabriel.(Don't ask me how I remember his name, I don't know, he was constantly asking my Mom about getting him in with people in the oil drilling business. I have no idea why, we wern't connected in that business) He sold it to the current owner of Anna's and moved down to his current location down at Westpoint. He has been running it for a long time now. That's it. My bad
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Post by Kyle Mitchell on Sept 11, 2014 15:37:09 GMT -6
The Majestic didn't miss out on many of the big blockbusters(the films that really matter) and had their pick from just about the same movies as the Roxy, that they would have room for. The movies that were not available to the Majestic because the film companies were releasing them only in digital were just as unavailable to the Roxy. The limitations of only two screens is obviously just part of the Majestic. However, the Majestic also had many advantages to attract people over the Roxy. I really feel that Mr. Endres was right and the Majestic should have been a tourist destination. Perhaps you may think that my highlighting the negatives is a problem, but do you really think that without my talking, people wouldn't find out that those things do go on? You might be correct that the same movies might have been available, but I remember seeing a lot more movies at the Roxy because they had them and the Majestic didn't. They might have gotten them later on after they had been out for a while. Maybe your replacements at the Majestic just didn't pick the right ones. Like I said, you did a much better job of managing a theater than they did. I would agree that the grandeur of the Majestic has its appeal, but it didn't seem to be much of a draw, at least not enough of a draw to remain in business. I knew nothing of the man exposing himself or the number of fights at the bar until you brought it up. You are similar to a news outlet. Just like all the talk of the murders in Chicago scares some people from going there, your talk of what happens downtown scares people away too, although lack of enforcement and your broadcasting of the negatives probably accounts for a similar number of people not patronizing the downtown area. I agree that the Majestic was not much of a draw despite its grandeur and a professional like Mr. Endres believing that it should be. Doesn't that tell you that there are indeed other problems here keeping it and other businesses from being successful? It is a shame that the lack of solutions for these problems and the suppression of discussion of solutions creates a situation where the only two choices are to either be quiet and allow the incidents to just continue as they have for years and years or to broadcast the negativity and still have nothing done to correct it. Being quiet and not doing anything about the problems had been going on for a long time and obviously was hurting business and not getting any better. I chose what I see as the better of the two evils and since it didn't produce any positive results, perhaps you are right that it also has hurt business. However, it is too late to just give up now, in my opinion. We will have to wait and see if it does end up helping in the long term. I still believe that there are a lot of good people in Streator who do not like having their community known as a place where people are routinely over-served and allowed to fight and urinate in the streets. I believe that those people will send a message to our City leaders at election time that they are not proud that these incidents are allowed to continue and want things to start being done differently. Time will tell.
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Post by oldtimer on Sept 11, 2014 16:07:35 GMT -6
You might be correct that the same movies might have been available, but I remember seeing a lot more movies at the Roxy because they had them and the Majestic didn't. They might have gotten them later on after they had been out for a while. Maybe your replacements at the Majestic just didn't pick the right ones. Like I said, you did a much better job of managing a theater than they did. I would agree that the grandeur of the Majestic has its appeal, but it didn't seem to be much of a draw, at least not enough of a draw to remain in business. I knew nothing of the man exposing himself or the number of fights at the bar until you brought it up. You are similar to a news outlet. Just like all the talk of the murders in Chicago scares some people from going there, your talk of what happens downtown scares people away too, although lack of enforcement and your broadcasting of the negatives probably accounts for a similar number of people not patronizing the downtown area. I agree that the Majestic was not much of a draw despite its grandeur and a professional like Mr. Endres believing that it should be. Doesn't that tell you that there are indeed other problems here keeping it and other businesses from being successful? It is a shame that the lack of solutions for these problems and the suppression of discussion of solutions creates a situation where the only two choices are to either be quiet and allow the incidents to just continue as they have for years and years or to broadcast the negativity and still have nothing done to correct it. Being quiet and not doing anything about the problems had been going on for a long time and obviously was hurting business and not getting any better. I chose what I see as the better of the two evils and since it didn't produce any positive results, perhaps you are right that it also has hurt business. However, it is too late to just give up now, in my opinion. We will have to wait and see if it does end up helping in the long term. I still believe that there are a lot of good people in Streator who do not like having their community known as a place where people are routinely over-served and allowed to fight and urinate in the streets. I believe that those people will send a message to our City leaders at election time that they are not proud that these incidents are allowed to continue and want things to start being done differently. Time will tell. Why don't you take your senseless, constantly repeated, know nothing thoughts over to that kyles blog thread? You take up too much space to say the same tired shhhiiit over and over again. Keep it confined to that thread.
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Post by helencrump on Sept 11, 2014 16:09:42 GMT -6
Man, can you imagine the masses that would show up in streator for cruise night, the great fireworks, light up streator, engle lane season, relay for life, etc, if people weren't too afraid to come here? Oh wait. They do. Guess they're only afraid to come to main st area, where the bars are. Oops, that's where cruise is. I never said that everyone were afraid to come here, but do you deny that Streator does have a rough reputation that does keep some people away? I think it is actually many people and a lot of money that these activities keep away. Can you honestly say that you have never heard anyone say that they wouldn't come to Streator because of our rough reputation? I could post some recent comments from others on the Times website and facebook page of people saying that they will not come here because of the problems that I talk about. A local reporter wrote that his buddies at college asked if he carried a weapon when they found out that he was from Streator. Do you not seriously have to wonder how big the masses could be for those great events if we were to actually clean up Streator and its image? How many more businesses, residents, etc. could we have if we weren't known as the community where drunken street brawls are allowed? Having lived elsewhere, and travel for my job, I'm consistently in other towns at all hours. I don't live in a bubble. I agree. streator does have a long standing reputation, dating back from the days of the mines, the days of Capone stories, from when bars were hopping at 7am with all the factory workers streaming in. When certain guys had such reputations for beating another just for looking at them wrong, and could silence a bar when they walked in. But, having been to some places that scared the crap out of me, I wonder why it is that streator continues to carry that reputation, while these other places don't. It's people like you, Kyle. And the paper. Ottawa is no safe haven. There's crap that goes on there that would definitely cause issues if it was ever reported. Theres also the macho guys, that like to tout the little chicago tag like a medal. I bet those college guys in your example had never even been to streator, either! I don't think the reputation will change, even if the cops arrested every bar patron that looked crosseyed at another.
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Post by dive61364 on Sept 12, 2014 7:58:35 GMT -6
once you have a reputation it is hard to shake it even if the conditions change.
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