A few changes in the downtown core

There is always something new and exciting going on with the business community in downtown Weiser, the hub of commerce and entertainment in our fair city.

 I keep track of it all from my spacious office in the Weiser Signal American building and through my many sources.

 The former Arrow Creek clothing store, a nice retail addition to the downtown core while it was here, will become the new Two Rivers real estate office.

 It also will be a nice addition to downtown. It’s undergoing some remodeling right now for the new business.

 After looking at the Clausen Ace Hardware building as potential office space, it appears that Weiser Memorial Hospital administrators will stick with their original plan of moving into the space now used by Ridley’s store.

 Once Ridley’s opens the new store on East 6th Street, the space downtown, which is the old King’s building, will become office space for the hospital. There are a couple of hospital offices that are located around town that will be consolidated under one roof. 

 Remodeling is also about to start on the former Mexican restaurant, El Tamalito, which will become the permanant offices for Washington County Cooperative Extension.

 Allow me to step onto my soapbox for just a minute here. I direct these comments at nobody in particular.

 Why do the owners of empty buildings in the downtown core, and I can think of a couple not far from our office, hold on to them forever? 

 I don’t get the financial sense of that. If you are not going to occupy it, why not sell it to some entrepreneur who has some ideas and will rehab it and give it a go as a business?

 One downtown building has been empty for 20 years. If it’s an investment, I don’t think it has appreciated a whole lot in two decades. 

 Meanwhile, the owner is paying taxes on an empty building and seeing no return.  

• • •

 The bill to allow historic theaters to serve beer and wine passed on the House floor at the Legislature and now goes to the Senate.

 I mentioned this previously as potentially a good thing for our own historic Star Theater in downtown Weiser. 

 Selling alcohol could boost the bottom line and enhance the desirability of attending shows at the theater. 

 Here’s an idea. Why can’t the Star open during fiddle week in June for some live entertainment in the evening? The theater could serve beer or wine to fiddle fans. 

 There is no other venue that can hold a lot of people, except for the high school auditorium and there’s no alcohol allowed. The Star has a nice stage and decent enough acoustics for a century old building. 

 Keeping up an old building like the Star and paying the bills takes income. The revenue from beer and wine sales might make a difference.

• • •

 Can you believe it’s Daylight Saving Time this weekend? Spring is two weeks away from today, and it should be a blooming one with all the rain we had in February. 

 When we move our clocks forward on Saturday night we lose an hour of sleep but gain the additional daylight. For me, that is the real mental shift to spring, the longer days. 

 Actually, it wasn’t that bad of a winter, at least here in the valley. I reviewed the temperature statistics recorded by the National Weather Service for December, January and February and could not find any subzero temperatures in the area. 

 Not a one, and not even a night that dipped into the single digits. I won’t complain about this winter. It was a pretty easy one by Idaho standards.

 Steve Lyon is the editor of the Weiser Signal American. Contact him at scoop@signalamerican.com.