The Eternal Optimist

Sorry I've been away so long---my internets at home took a big old crap lately and I haven't been online for extended periods of time. Mostly because the connection seemed to go out *every time* I wanted to post/publish/send something....

:(

So...saw a tidbit in the N-G this week:

CHAMPAIGN – A vacant Campustown building that long housed Bidwell's tavern and later Cochrane's tavern is expected to be torn down next year to make way for a five-story retail/office complex.

The three-story building at 619 S. Wright St. will likely come down "in the next couple of months" so construction on Campus Centre can begin, said Laura Pime of Northbrook-based Gregory Realty Group, which is developing the new building.

Pime said the company is close to signing a "gourmet" fast-food tenant for the first floor. The second floor is intended for retail space – perhaps a hair or nail salon – and the third through fifth floors are expected to house offices, she said.

Can I dare to dream? Go fill out a request online. Post a link to this story in your Additional Comments. I want a Trader Joe's---how about you? It would be perfect---smaller, more intimate space (which seems to be the standard for TJ's), on campus, on the buslines, and with the projects at Fourth and Springfield (and Green), in an area that's going to become more dense population-wise.

I'm kinda amazed at all the growth right now in Champaign. Fourth and Green, Springfield and Green, the old Cochrane's, the new Convention Center south of the Assembly Hall, the new building downtown, and the Champaign Public Library---all brand-new multi-story buildings going up.