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the old depo in east florence would be a cool place for a bar restarunt music venue. the old foundery would have made a great out door venue ....you know like sloss furnace in bham.but its gone now. good thinking on the cities part yea!!! not many more places left down that way that would make a good place... i talked to a guy the other day who was talking bout opening up big ed's place.he mentiond how it had a bad rap because of the thur night shows that featured hip hop music.well trouble comes with that music and crowd.

james holden if you find a place for a non smoking club that would be great.i will be there with bells on. good luck.

i still wonder what is wrong with downtown florence. i mean its right down the street from all the people that would support it.... UNA walking distance.empty buildings all over . any of them would be good for music venues . stephanos old building would be perfect.rogers dept store......oh well in my dreams!!!!i mean what was i thinking i forget where i live.
i thought those two buildings (cherry mill/foundry) would have been nice to use before they were torn down.

i've got my eye on a place, how can i figure out who owns a building? i think the state might, since its around the helton drive/florence blvd intersection.

goaheadmakemyday: yeah, i'd rather not see tobacco smoking inside, but that would have to be a decision that any/all investors should make along with me.

if the establishment is large enough, i'd like to see the patrons fund a smoking room
quote:
UNA walking distance.empty buildings all over . any of them would be good for music venues . stephanos old building would be perfect.rogers dept store......oh well in my dreams!!!!i mean what was i thinking i forget where i live.


Too bad is right!

Weren't they working on putting condos in Rogers? What happened to that idea?
My 1st cousin, Tim Roberson (Roberson Scrap Metals) bought the old stove foundry
because he wanted to put his business there when the Port Authority expressed interest in
buying back the property they had sold him (current location) and all was fine & dandy
until he wanted permission from the city to move his business there.
Now don't get me wrong, they had just finished part of the road work
& was fixing to start the 2nd stages of it (what was just finished) and they didn't want his junk yard smack down in the middle of it. Don't blame them a bit.
But thankfully he did his checking before he sold to the Port Authority, or he'd be out of business!
Point of my story~ Be careful when buying some of these older properties.
If you don't believe me, ride down Sweetwater Avenue and look at that million dollar mess that's still laying down there!!
quote:
Originally posted by bama in chi-town:
That was a horrible location for an entertainment district. There should be bars, restaurants, and music venues downtown. Businesses during the day and entertainment at night. That is how other NORMAL cities do it.

I totally agree. The problem in the past has been that the narrow minded people who run Flo Town would not allow a "lounge license" in the downtown area. I guess they think that an entertainment district should just be ice cream parlors.
Hopefully, now the worm has started to turn and there is actually a bar in downtown. Maybe more venues will start to come to downtown.
I personally would love to see the old Shoals movie theater back up to showing movies. Can't believe it is better just to let the building sit there empty.
Florence has such great potential, they just need some progressive thinking people to encourage development.
Relying on memory here, but I thought the reason they were trying to find a location other than the downtown area was due to limited parking??

I'm wondering would it not be more cost efficient to tear down some of the buildings in or near the downtown area that look junky anyway (giving the owners an excellent price for their property of course) & build parking decks. Then you can use the buildings downtown already in existence for entertainment venues.
Guys, remember..it would also have to be profitable. It's not Field of Dreams, so just cuz it's there doesn't mean it will attract sufficient revenue. When I was at UNA, I saw club after club open, and people flocked to the newest thing..for a while..then something would close. Florence isn't a 'college town'. If I was stupid wealthy, I wouldn't open a bar there, as it would just pull away from the couple that are there. Then..someone would open another and business would suck. I hate to sound like a Debbie-downer, but that's my observation.
quote:
Originally posted by GOAHEADMAKEMYDAY:
you need to try to attract people from OUTSIDE THE SHOALS. people around here ....UNA included dont support business in the area.an entertainment oriented business wont make it if your depending on locals.


promotion woudn't be a huge issue.. i've already got someone lined up for that side of the equation.

i attend many out of town shows, and know plenty of other people who do the same. thats why a decent sized building with room to keep everyone in one area is a priority.

i just want a place to go, or i'm going to have to leave. and i like Florence.
oh wow. is this topic back on the board again? I've spoken to people that own some of the empty properties in downtown, some living in california and some local that would invest money into putting businesses targeting the college and entertainment aspect of Florence, but according to main street and city of florence, The main thing that hurts downtown from getting a "bar scene" smoking or not comes down to the fact of "lack of retail stores" in the downtown district. Those organizations want there to be a balance in retail vs. bar/restaurant. Also another factor that doesn't allow a bar is the zoning for downtown being that it is a B-3 zone which pretty much allows everything except for a lounge license. The requirements for a lounge license use to be very strict as far as parking requirements and fire code. Now the parking requirements are the exact same as a restaurant license. The fire code, to my knowledge, is the same, but that just makes sense. If someone take the money time and effort to really try to build downtown florence into its fullest potential, they would discover this:
-As much as i support local business, there would have to be some kind of corporate retail store in downtown. People in florence and surrounding areas are so accustomed to going to the mall or target shopping plaza or walmart for their retail shopping that they have to have that corporate name recognition to draw attention to downtown and build more traffic. After one or two corporate owned stores come in, that would appease the city and main street and they possibly would be more lenient to rezoning for bars or maybe they would ease off 51/49 with a little convincing. I'm like james though if something doesn't turn around then i'm going to have to leave too. and i really like florence.
quote:
Originally posted by redbull:
Everyone I've spoken to who actually had business downtown and are now shut down cites the extremely high rent. I would think it would be better to get a lower rent on the building and keep it occupied than to charge a ridiculous amount and sit empty.


that comes from the property owners living in california...
so i noticed there was a yardsale going on at the building i've been drooling over today while i was on my way to work (btw, thanks to the forum member who provided me with more info!)

i manged to get back by there after everyone got their lunch breaks, the woman sitting outside was one of the owners of the building. we talked for a while, they had a few ideas they want to pursue, but might be willing to let me do my thing if i can get some funding

she stated if anything were to go on there-- that the city would make me put in a drive, and i'd have to obtain some insurance.

i'd also have to do some work on the building, but thats no big deal since its in better shape now than it could ever be in my dreams.

i've gotta let this sit on my head a few hours. i have no idea how i would manage to secure more money than i make a year to build a proper driveway.

if there are any grant writers lurking here, i'd love to hear some input!

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