{"id":14689,"date":"2016-05-17T03:19:05","date_gmt":"2016-05-17T03:19:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/?p=14689"},"modified":"2016-05-17T03:20:03","modified_gmt":"2016-05-17T03:20:03","slug":"downtowns-new-look-is-taking-shape","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/?p=14689","title":{"rendered":"Downtown&#8217;s new look is taking shape"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"twitter-share\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?via=jkanelis\" class=\"twitter-share-button\">Tweet<\/a><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/amarillo-hotel.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-10533\" src=\"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/amarillo-hotel-300x151.jpg\" alt=\"amarillo hotel\" width=\"300\" height=\"151\" srcset=\"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/amarillo-hotel-300x151.jpg 300w, https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/amarillo-hotel-1024x516.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/08\/amarillo-hotel.jpg 1161w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>I don&#8217;t drive that often these days into downtown Amarillo.<\/p>\n<p>So, when I get there I continue to be amazed at the changes that are underway.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;ve <em>heard<\/em> about the construction of the Embassy Suites convention hotel and about the rising Xcel Energy business center a couple of blocks south of the new hotel.<\/p>\n<p>However, I have to tell you that seeing the face of downtown Amarillo changing in real time is quite the sight. I went downtown this morning to interview someone for a story I&#8217;m writing for NewsChannel 10.com.<\/p>\n<p>Between the hotel and the Xcel site there is a large hole in the ground. Crews have excavated the site where the next major structure is set to rise up: the parking garage.<\/p>\n<p>I understand the city has booked a major convention next year after the Embassy Suites opens for business. There appears to be more on the way to the city.<\/p>\n<p>Oh, yes. There&#8217;s also that ballpark that&#8217;s yet to be built.<\/p>\n<p>I get that construction of these structures doesn&#8217;t guarantee anything by itself. However, let us consider the last time we&#8217;ve seen such a flurry of major construction activity occurring in our central business district all at once.<\/p>\n<p>I don&#8217;t have quite the &#8220;institutional memory&#8221; that a lot of native Amarillo residents have, but 21 years living here is pretty sufficient. I&#8217;ve seen my share of change throughout the city in my time in Amarillo.<\/p>\n<p>The sight of those structures rising up downtown gives me hope that even better days lie ahead.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n<div class=\"twitter-share\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?via=jkanelis\" class=\"twitter-share-button\">Tweet<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I don&#8217;t drive that often these days into downtown Amarillo. So, when I get there I continue to be amazed at the changes that are underway. I&#8217;ve heard about the construction of the Embassy Suites convention hotel and about the rising Xcel Energy business center a couple of blocks south of the new hotel. However, &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/?p=14689\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Downtown&#8217;s new look is taking shape<\/span> <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/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":[1436,1577,3294,5317],"class_list":["post-14689","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business-news","category-local-news","tag-downtown-amarillo","tag-embassy-suites","tag-newschannel-10","tag-xcel-energy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14689","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=14689"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14689\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14692,"href":"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14689\/revisions\/14692"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=14689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=14689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/highplainsblogger.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=14689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}