By: Diane Benjamin
Remember when the Normal Town Council told Pam Reece to make getting the Town out of the $36,000 a month lease for the 2nd story of 1 Uptown Circle a priority? Remember, that building would have never been built if the Town hadn’t agreed to rent an entire floor. Remember too the FIRST FLOOR is still empty years later.
Any surprise the Trail East developer decided he couldn’t make a profit after AFNI pulled out of renting one floor?
When the Normal Town Council set priorities for the fiscal year April 1, 2020-March 31, 2021, they demanded Pam Reece investigate subleasing the 1 Uptown Circle 2nd floor. The video below is Pam Reece updating the Council on that effort and asking them to send any interested businesses to her. She was responding to Stan Nord mentioning yet another lease payment at this meeting.
A MUST watch – November 16, 2020:
The WGLT article on the Trail East developer pulling out states Pam Reece will continue looking for a place in Uptown for Farnsworth. https://www.wglt.org/local-news/2021-09-16/trail-east-developer-abandons-uptown-effort
Ding
Ding
Ding!
Hey Pam! You have two floors in 1 Uptown Circle Farnworth Group can move right into! Your engineering staff can go back to the Linden location they came from.
Turn the Trail East site into a real parking lot and people would will stop saying I don’t go to Uptown because there is no parking. Hint: People don’t like scary garages where you can’t see who might be coming down while you are going up. They don’t like paying to park either when lots of free options are available without going to Uptown.
Problem solved!
Council gets their wishes and Farnsworth locates in Uptown. Win-Win.
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There will never be more parking in uptown look at all the parking spaces that the picnic tables are taking up staff and council just don’t care. As far as parking decks go when they were being built I mentioned to a councilman that most people especially women do not feel safe parking in them and was security cameras going to be installed the comment back was no we don’t want to give the impression that the parking decks may not be safe. I will say that I have not heard of any crimes being committed other than one car being broke into and a set of golf clubs being stolen.
During the strategic planning session on Dec 5-6, 2019 the council made it a priority to address the 1 Uptown rent. Normal should abandon the dream of a restaurant on the 1st floor of 1 Uptown and let Farmsworth, or whomever, rent the 1st and 2nd floor of that building. The town has ample vacant space elsewhere that they already own but it is not as “posh” as 1 Uptown.
Stan Nord – Council member in Normal who respects the pocketbooks of the residents of Normal
Since its your idea, Diane, the win win will never be done.
If course, not to mention they don’t mind wasting your money on rent.
No, no, no Diane! What this project has needed all along is a wind turbine to power the building, a green roof and electronic car charging stations in front. We already have a Connect Transit bus stop for Connect’s fleet of electronic busses. This is the perfect storm. Normal is the Silacon Valley of the Midwest, thanks to Chris Koos. Our Savior Chris needs to scrap these building plans and build the right type of building. Thank God it can finally happen. I know, I just know that the right fit occupant will come if it’s designed properly. Rivian would really like to build their corporate offices here because they love Uptown so much and with a Mayor like Chris I know it can happen. It’s why we reelected him. We’re the ones missing out by not building them a building. This is far from over. If we build it, they will come.
Comedy is on Saturday, you provided the early edition!
We can laugh at this all we want, but the problem in Normal is that it’s more truth than comedy.
You have no idea how accurate your light-hearted post is. These people really believe they are part of the world-changing crowd, kidding aside. They take themselves and their worldview very seriously and truly believe they are saving the planet from little Normal because of the way they build and the companies they pursue. True economic development for the masses has never been the endgame. Agenda 21 and projects like the New Green Deal are a religion to these people not to be taken lightly. They look in the mirror daily and believe with their entire being they are that influential and that important. They really do believe Normal will be the new green Silicon Valley and when it happens, everyone should bow to them because of it.
Add: making taxpayers foot the bill
Add to my plans solar panels. Forgot that part. Not only has our Savior Chris hung the moon, he can harness the sun along with the wind in the Silacon Valley of the midwest known as Uptown.
Maybe some DISTANT relate of king Nebuchadnezzar II will want to build ANOTHER hanging garden. Then “uptown” won’t NEED to run a water line to RIVIAN as the garden will need a GOOD daily watering, and they can grow all kinds of “sustainable” vegetables and bring BACK their farmers market!!! WIN-WIN-WIN. Only THEN can uptown be the “tourist destination” that they WISH to be.
Once AGAIN government KNOWS the world BETTER then you and I..
NO need to hurry up and photograph the mural, it will be there until 2150, as ANYONE who is the “right fit” that they are LOOKING for, has ALREADY built in a more business friendly town with PLENTY of parking.
The term “uptown” is ALREADY an overused catch phrase, as a few towns in So. IL. which are WAY better then nimrod are using it.
Well I’m sure that Chris and Pam are really mad about that project being canceled because you know that have to take a hit financially with both of them.