OTTUMWA —
A letter from a former resident back for a visit discussed the run-down condition of Main Street and was disillusioned by its shabbiness and all the empty buildings. The writer further wrote disparagingly about the new stores that built out away from downtown.
On the other side of the coin, a former resident was in my office, and she exclaimed how Ottumwa has grown and what great stores and malls we now have. As she discussed Bridge View, the water park and all the various new buildings, it was apparent she was very favorably impressed.
For us living here, these things come on more or less one at a time, and we don’t quite realize all the changes until someone brings it to our attention. Of course, many people, including myself, don’t like the idea of Super Walmart turning lots of businesses into out-of-business businesses or causing them great economic harm.
The solution for downtown Ottumwa is one of two. 1. Proudly let it turn into a ghetto of beer joints, pot dens, strippers and prostitutes, tattoo shops and so on, or, 2. bulldoze the whole thing down and build the “GOAT” Great Ottumwa Any Thing mall and make it attractive enough in price for merchants to rent, and attractive and convenient enough to draw shoppers.
The main draw and anchor place would be a casino. We might give land to the Indians so they could thumb their noses at Des Moines and build. With $33 million profit, they could be required to pay for all this remodeling as a condition for existing in Ottumwa. Alternatively, our local leaders could obtain a $5 billion grant from the federal government and proceed immediately. I can draw the plan up at a modest cost.
I can see it now, Ottumwa’s mascot being a goat. Goat statutes would be everywhere. When they excavate Ottumwa in a thousand years, archeologists will describe our goat fetish, and we will be described as a truly decadent society. But what the heck, we need to get this downtown straightened out, and we’ll all be dead then.
Charles Scott
Ottumwa
Letters to the Editor
January 3, 2013
Two choices for Main Street area in Ottumwa
- Letters to the Editor
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- Ask for salvation now Ask for salvation now Matthew, Mark and John were eyewitnesses of Jesus -- they wrote what they learned! Read Matthew 10:28. There is a hell! Pray to God! Ask for salvation! Ronald S. Davis Ottumwa Spend money on park To the city council members
- Spend some money on the park To the city council members, park director and the mayor: Where does the money go that they took in this year? They need to spend some of the money to fix up the park. Fill some of the holes in the park. Also, they need to cut some limbs from the tre
- Pay attention to safety concerns Time to make Ottumwa a quiet zone for trains, it would make for safer crossings that cannot be driven around when the arms are down. Then they can also concentrate on that instead of changing all of the traffic flow at Evans Middle School, opening cl
- Injuries to infants, children can be prevented In the April 25 Courier, there were two stories of very young children who may have been severely harmed by a caretaker. We only know the circumstances revealed by the media, but our community has heard of these tragedies before. Only about 2 percent
- Church extends a heartfelt thanks As I sit here in my office that still smells of smoke from the fire our church suffered this past week, I remind myself how fortunate we are to be in a city where people still watch out for one another, and we, the members of the First Church of God,
- Program helps new parents In light of recent developments, I would like to increase the public's awareness of the NEST Program available through our Wapello County Extension and Outreach at 214 E. Main St. This program is available for parents of newborns through age 5, as we
- One giant mud hole to China Once upon a time, long, long ago, the neighbor kids and I used to like to dig in the ditch after a nice rain and make mud pies. We’d squat beside our hole in the ground with our long-handled spoons and take turns digging and filling our muffin pans
- Superintendent says 'thank you' May is School Board Appreciation Month. Today, the district held its Staff Appreciation and Teacher of the Year Breakfast, and last week was the Faculty Follies program organized by the Education Foundation for Fairfield Public Schools. I am full of
- Address mental health concerns for veterans Memorial Day will soon be here and we will pay tribute to our deceased loved ones. This Memorial Day, let's pay special tribute to our deceased veterans — like my dad — Don Butts, who served in World War II (Battle of the Bulge — one of the worst bat
- It's the death of a republic It's the death of a republic Our first president -- and founding father -- once said during his administration that "at best, government is a fearful master; at worst, it is a consuming fire." During the later 20th century, the number of defenseles
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