Shenandoah Urban Renewal Plan - Options 1 & 2

Shenandoah, Iowa, has had a spirited debate over the past year about the fate of the historic Johnson Brothers Mill building.  The Shenandoah Urban Renewal Plan involves four properties but the main focus has been on Johnson Mills.  The reason for this is simple.  It does have historic value to many Shenandoah residents and because of it's location and blighted state it has become an eyesore for the downtown area.

I will briefly pose both options here which will be also be discussed further at the City Council meeting on March 12.  Between now and then the Council members are gathering public feedback on the two plans.  A link is provided at the bottom of this post to a poll I've put together.  Otherwise the poll is listed at the right.

Option 1 - On busy Sheridan avenue Johnson Mills and the old Radio Shack will be demolished.  Also on Sheridan and at the epicenter of downtown retail the Shenandoah Home Furnishings building will be purchased and renovated for the Shenandoah Chamber to relocate.  They will reside in one half the building and use the other half as a new business incubator.  A couple blocks off Sheridan by the Earl May offices the Nishnaland Seed building will also be demolished.  In addition, Option 1 includes the replacement of the downtown Walk of Fame tiles.  They are going on twelve years old and will be replaced with granite tiles as is used in Des Moines.

The benefits of Option 1 is the removal of three blighted eyesore properties from downtown Shenandoah and the placing of the Shenandoah Home Furnishings building back on the tax rolls.

In my opinion the negative affects of Option 1 is that because of the location of Johnson Mills next to a railroad that only carries hazardous chemicals the possibilities are slim that anyone would purchase the land and build on it.  If this happens then we are looking at a huge hole in downtown Shenandoah for the next couple generations.  Though not as big the same can be said of the old Radio Shack.

Option 2 - On busy Sheridan avenue Johnson Mills and the old Radio Shack will be renovated.  No change from Option 1 on the Shenandoah Home Furnishings building, Nishnaland Seed building or the Walk of Fame tile replacement.

The benefits of Option 2 is that we save a historic building.  Renovating it would not only alleviate an eyesore but make it an intriguing focus for the downtown area.  Plus we retain the hope, possibility and more of a likelihood of an investor to seriously consider the property.  This also retains the hope of putting the property back on the tax rolls.

There is already a business owner interested in the old Radio Shack building.  That should be enough said.  Renovating and readying that building for business will place it back on the tax rolls.  It's a "win win."

No change in pros and cons from Option 1 on Nishnaland Seed and the Shenandoah Home Furnishings building.

It is obvious why the Johnson Mills building is the focus.  Visitors primarily enter downtown Shenandoah from the west end of Sheridan.  After a few businesses, a few housing establishments and the Iowa Wester Community College branch you hit Johnson Mills as the gateway to downtown.  It's blighted nature inherently marks a negative impression.  Immense positive feedback has been offered from visitors, especially corporate, about the Shenandoah Inn and also the theater.  They are convenient, clean and have both been erected and revitalized with City oversight.  To increase traffic and retain the quality of downtown impressions it is necessary to renovate the Johnson Mills building.  A nice unique building with a flatiron design is a much better option than a huge empty plot with visitors unavoidably wondering what was there.

These are the two options of the Shenandoah Urban Renewal Plan as I interpret it.  It is also obvious which one I am leaning toward.  Since November or December 2012 I was starting to lean toward demolishing Johnson Mills but still held hope that it would hold out.  When this new proposal of Option 2 came it was a relief and retained a vital element needed in all progress and revitalization - hope!

Click on the poll - Renovation

Keep the Sabbath Day Holy and Claim Your Rest

We live in dark times when our values are voluntarily surrendered with each strengthening of the flaxen cord.  Whether you are a Christian or not it is ever important to observe one day in which to exert all your efforts and attention to the spiritual welfare of your family and yourself.  To regularly have your cup filled is vital to personal progress.  We've been given the Sabbath Day for this time of renewal.

It's not a popular subject, observing the Sabbath Day, but it's more important than you know.  Whether you accept traditional doctrines or not the realm of God rested from the great work on the seventh day.  If you believe it, great, however if not there is a great lesson to be learned.

We are mortal beings filled with modern stress and confusion.  Immorality abounds and modern demands of acceptance clashes with the inner truths of warning.  Hatred and intolerance have spread like wildfire across the globe and has solidified the sense of self righteousness.  Children are murdered in classrooms and fingers are pointed at lifeless objects protected by our Second Amendment instead of how the family is brought up in this time.  Over the past several decades especially we've been conditioned to accept non-spiritual activities as a necessity on the Sabbath claiming blame on time constraints and extracurricular needs.

Not only has the vast multitude lost their faith they have lost something even more - the will for faith.  Let's get a grip oh children under the most high.  Believe in an actual physical being or a puff of smoke if you want but you cannot expect salvation to come up and take up residence on your silver platter.  NO!  Instead the
reality of salvation will likely jump up and bite you on the rear end.  Usually we won't recognize it until it's too late.

Faith is necessary to live!  Faith is necessary for a healthy family and posterity that looks upward for true guidance and success.  Faith has become the most "cliche" word in our language and it is a most grievous reality.  I don't care who you are, salvation will not come just by swearing upon the Bible and the Lord Jesus Christ.  That's not blasphemous but truth.  What is faith which is required of all of us?  What is faith that is required to rise with the just and to even claim the grandeur that you have the potential of?  Faith is the principle behind all power and all action.  It's not magic - it just IS!

After Adam took the fruit the Lord came and inquired of him where he was.  Don't you think that God already knew Adam was hiding?  Of course he did!  Then why did the Lord see fit to even ask the question?  The Lord's requirement for Adam's progress of faith was to take action.  Adam had to take that physical step to answer the Lord.  This has everything to do with us.  Our faith is dependent on our actions.  If we fail to observe one day a week to fill our spiritual cup then we are condemned not to progress our faith as  required.  

Are we not taught in James 1:22 to be doers of the word and not just hearers?  There are deeper precepts to learn in each scriptural passage.  To be a doer is crucial to the learning of an individual.  Learning goes hand in hand with faith.  Learned things are implemented.  That action is based on the principle of faith.

When Moses was commissioned to use the staff (Exodus 3:2-4) in his hand to convince the people by which power he was to lead he was first asked of the Lord what was in his hand.  Don't you think that the Lord knew what was in his hand?  Of course he did!  Yet, Moses had to learn and act by answering the Lord and also to reach forth and pick up the serpent by the tail that it may become a staff again.  Again, ACTION was required.

This has everything to do with keeping the Sabbath Day holy.  It requires a "do" on your part.  It takes a firm decision on your part to set aside that time for you and your family to receive instruction and have your cups filled.  It takes the "do" of action to stand up and renounce sporting activities and other common past times on the Sabbath that destroy or strip the Spirit from your heart and attention.

It comes down to this.  If that day of rest and observance was found necessary by the Architect then how much more important is it for us lowly children to observe the Sabbath Day?  He is the example.  Are we following it???

A major part of our gift given us is our agency or open ability to choose.  We make choices every day.  Those choices become decisions to be acted upon.  Our agency, by design, is to enable our growth of faith.  Faith eventually strong enough to endure the presence of God and to have everlasting expansion and endless potential.  Correct choices will foster this growth.  Ill choices canker or hinder it.  The dilemma is that we tend to be consumed with the goings on of the day and the wants of the world that we consciously or subconsciously deny our better judgement.  We sacrifice personal growth for the desires of the here and now.  Out of fear or offense we fail to stand and be a light unto the world.  Our agency is a gift which makes our own end results of our own doing and not of someone else's.

We have the duty and responsibility to rear and protect our most precious treasure - our children.  This includes instilling in them the tools necessary for them to grow faith.  Faith is as a mustard seed ordained to grow.  If you've ever had a garden then you know that in order to have a healthy plant action is required of you to dig, weed and nourish that plant.

Keep the Sabbath Day holy.  I know for a surety that these words will offend those who have built up a wall of pride to protect them from guilt, but it is my sworn duty to announce the warnings when needed and to renounce deeds that are counter to the ways of progress.

Keep the Sabbath Day holy.  Keep your bodies exceptional temples of God.  Do not deface them or poison them with substance designed to drive the Spirit out or to impede your own judgement.  Use the gift of choice to aid your own progression.

Start by keeping the Sabbath Day holy.