Castle Rock's Master Plan for downtown, as spearheaded by the new parking garage, seems to be working quite well.
The new parking garage promotes the "Empty Storefront" ideal. Extensive taxpayer dollars were appropriated to form this new vision of Americana.
While newcomers to downtown might be confused when searching for a place to park, there is no denying that the look of fading prosperity as envisioned by the town architect's grand vision has worked beyond expectations.
The downtown 1st Bank has shown its support by promptly closing their doors, relocating employees to outlying branches.
Down the road the building which once house our beloved True Value (where I was given one of my first lines of business credit, by the way), has a sign up offering office space.
Rumor has it (but it is just a rumor) councilpersons were taken on an all expense paid trip to several towns in Kansas and Nebraska to see the aesthetic benefits of emptiness.
But that's just a rumor, not to be taken as fact.
To assist with the vision, or perhaps concerned they weren't doing enough, the same people that gave us depression style parking garages decided they could REALLY push things along if we didn't spend too much time downtown.
Therefore we now have the ticket guy, whose main job is to make sure you don't dawdle after your business in our beautiful blockhouse, errr municipal building (Or whatever that monstrosity is called).
Forget about sticking around for lunch or backing up that martini you just had with lunch. How can we promote curtained windows and deserted sidewalks if you keep spending your money? Go home or we're giving you a ticket!
And to think we owe it all to those visionaries who saw, before all of us, the power of the empty storefront.
Who ever would have guessed it. And I have dared to suggest in past blogs incompetence in town hall. Where was my head??
Those in charge on the north side of town seem oblivious to things south, preferring instead to continue their construction of franchise after franchise, blandly plodding ahead in the name of the tax base.
I have this idea that maybe we could put some local artwork in those faux fake storefront windows. I mean, it is good northern light.
Naw, that would mean more people downtown. And that's not good for empty storefronts. Shame on me.
Maybe graffiti?