{"id":11864,"date":"2015-12-02T03:07:14","date_gmt":"2015-12-02T03:07:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/?p=11864"},"modified":"2015-12-02T03:07:14","modified_gmt":"2015-12-02T03:07:14","slug":"construction-crane-sign-of-downtown-progress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/?p=11864","title":{"rendered":"Construction crane: sign of downtown progress"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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\"amarillo<\/a><\/p>\n

There used to be a time when I ventured into downtown Amarillo daily.<\/p>\n

I worked there full time. I would\u00a0see the same sights as I drove toward my place of employment. When you see the same things each day you don’t always notice changes while they’re occurring.<\/p>\n

These days I get downtown far less frequently. It’s usually once per week to attend a Rotary Club meeting at the Chase Tower.<\/p>\n

Those downtown sojourns, though, are producing a visual treat for me. I’m noticing the changes more readily. I cannot say I notice them week over week, but I do sense some serious changes — for the better — in our downtown district.<\/p>\n

The most obvious change has been the sight of that construction crane over a major project going up on Buchanan Street. It’s the new Xcel Energy office complex. They’ve laid the foundation and have begun framing the multi-story structure. Xcel will move into the building in 2017.<\/p>\n

OK, there’s more.<\/p>\n

As I drive down Polk Street, I get the sense of more activity on what used to be the city’s “main drag.” It’s nothing I can define point by point. It’s just a feeling in my gut.<\/p>\n

The last time I saw Potter County Judge Nancy Tanner, I told her how proud I am of the courthouse complex renovation. She’s clearly proud of it, too. And she should be.<\/p>\n

The Commerce Building at Eighth and Tyler is going to be transformed into an urban branch campus for West Texas A&M University.<\/p>\n

My anticipation is growing as well as I await the start of actual construction of the Embassy Suites hotel, where they’ve “broken ground.”<\/p>\n

And, of course, we have this multipurpose event venue that’s now planned for construction at the site of the vacated Coca-Cola distribution complex across the street from City Hall.<\/p>\n

I’ve long believed that any city’s future depends on the health of its downtown district. Show me a city with a dilapidated downtown and I’ll show you a city in serious decline. Believe me, I’ve seen my share as I’ve traveled through Texas over the past 31 years.<\/p>\n

I’ve also seen cities with vibrant downtown districts that also reflect the health of their communities.<\/p>\n

My hope for Amarillo is that the momentum I sense is increasing in its downtown district will continue and pick up speed.<\/p>\n

That Xcel Energy construction crane is a huge start. I’m ready to see more of them.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n\n

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There used to be a time when I ventured into downtown Amarillo daily. I worked there full time. I would\u00a0see the same sights as I drove toward my place of employment. When you see the same things each day you don’t always notice changes while they’re occurring. These days I get downtown far less frequently. … Continue reading Construction crane: sign of downtown progress<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,9],"tags":[934,5705,1436,3153,3179,3682,4032,5312,5317],"class_list":["post-11864","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business-news","category-local-news","tag-chase-tower","tag-commerce-building","tag-downtown-amarillo","tag-mpev","tag-nancy-tanner","tag-potter-county-courthouse","tag-rotary-club-of-amarillo","tag-wtamu","tag-xcel-energy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11864","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11864"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11864\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11865,"href":"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11864\/revisions\/11865"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11864"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11864"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11864"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}