November 19th, 2010 |
by Alex Baca |
Published in
Weekly Round-Up
Welcome to Collecting College Park, a new weekly feature here at Rethink College Park. On Friday mornings, you can expect to see this weekly news roundup of stories relevant to development, planning, transportation, and quality of life around the city and the campus.
Bar Talk: A Q&A with Mark Srour, Owner of Cornerstone Bar & Loft (Patch): Patch’s Lauren Evans has a great interview Srour and chats with him about the state of bar-going in College Park. Srour says, “I mean, the house parties are always going to be there. You’re away from your parents, you’re going to start drinking, or whatever. It’s just part of growing up. Hopefully the future of College Park will get better and more exciting for the college kids, and hopefully I’m there to help out.”
A shadow of its former self: Turtle showed promise before fall (Diamondback): Another post-mortem for the fallen bar: “As a new business in downtown College Park, its goal was difficult but crucial: to strike the balance between a family-friendly atmosphere and a fun nighttime spot for students to drink and dine. ‘The only way to survive is to cater to [residents] too. … You have to make sure you don’t specifically target one market. That’s how I’ve stayed in business for so long [at Alario's],’ Turtle owner Alan Wanuck told The Gazette before the establishment opened. But Turtle fell from grace a short three years after opening when an employee opened the doors a little too wide and admitted two underage police aides Sept. 23. Last Wednesday, Wanuck handed over Turtle’s liquor license permanently after it was revoked a few days earlier.”
Route 1: Bankrupting Local Businesses (Diamondback): A Diamondback opinion columnist humorously raises the issue of high rents in downtown College Park: ”Earlier this year, one of my favorite restaurants, Chicken Rico, closed for seemingly no reason. It couldn’t have been because of the food — the food was delicious. Like really, really good. And while the customer base (me) was admittedly small, it (I) was very loyal. But like so many other businesses on Route 1, Chicken Rico eventually disappeared. Since its demise, I’ve heard rumors about high rent, lack of student interest and a landlord who may or may not have been Lord Voldemort. But none of that matters to me. This is bigger than Chicken Rico. There have been other places, too. This is very much a trend.”
City waits to take stand on high-rise (Diamondback): “In last night’s city council work session, Stullich presented a letter from the Old Town Neighborhood Association outlining aversion to the project by non-student residents of southern College Park — those who live in homes between downtown and the Metro line. Stullich used the letter to advocate for the council to side with residents: in a 24-0 vote last month, the neighborhood association opposed the project, citing concerns about a possible increase in noise and other disruptions that many residents felt would occur if hundreds of additional students moved into the area. But other council members, who said they understood residents’ concerns, decided they wouldn’t take a stance on the project until the developer made detailed plans for the apartments available to the public.”
That’s it for this Friday! If you’ve got tips, suggestions, or pointers for next week’s edition of Collecting College Park, leave them in the comments or email Alex at lxdlnbc@gmail.com.
