Thursday, April 18, 2013
Students respond negatively on social media to president's retirement
The Kent and Kent State University community responded with mixed reaction to the news that President Lester Lefton will be retiring when his contract ends in July 2014. Community and campus leaders praised Kent State's 11th president for his leadership in strengthening town-gown relations, yet students and others used the announcement to sharply criticize the 66-year-old Boston native on social media. Town-Gown Renewal "Lester’s got to be commended on what he brought to the table to help the city of Kent and the university as a whole get what we had to get done dowtown with our redevelopment," Kent Mayor Jerry Fiala said. "Lester had the personality to help Kent get done what we needed to get done." Lefton came to Kent in 2006, at about …
Friday, April 12, 2013
You know which alley we're talking about. Blogger Heather Malarcik made it her mission to see that it got cleaned up.
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Numerous business entities have contacted city officials about trex liquor license transfers
Kent City Council can expect to see more requests from bar and restaurant owners for liquor license transfers — as early as next month. At least 10 different businesses or partnerships have inquired with city administrators about Ohio's "Trex" liquor license transfer, a state-approved process that allows for the transfer of a liquor license from one community to another. "They are out there," Kent Law Director Jim Silver said. "They want to come in to town. I don’t think you’ll have a problem finding people who want to come in to Kent and sell alcohol." In Ohio, the number of liquor permits allowed per community is limited based on its population. In Kent, all of the available liquor licenses are owned or in use. Kent has some strict …
Friday, April 5, 2013
Street furniture on Erie Street part of downtown redevelopment
Workers installed new concrete benches and flower planters on Erie Street and throughout the downtown redevelopment block Thursday as part of the road reconstruction project that started last year. Originally, the city budgeted for the installation of 40 new benches as part of the street reconstruction. The new street furniture contributes to the overall redevelopment project. The city installed new trees along Erie Street in October.
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Buffalo Wild Wings opened Monday on first floor of renovated old Kent hotel
Buffalo Wild Wings opened to the public for the first time Monday as the first tenant in the newly renovated Acorn Corner at the intersection of Main and DePeyster streets in downtown Kent. The opening marks a milestone in the landmark building, where the upper floors have been vacant and condemned for nearly 40 years and the main floor has been empty and boarded up for more than a decade. Monday also was the first time the public got the chance to see developer Ron Burbick deliver on his promise to restore the 1920s era structure after buying it from the city in November 2011. A brief illness kept the developer from attending opening day for the restaurant, which boasts 55 TVs — including a 35 feet by 8 feet TV above the bar — and about 7…
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-81.356813
/articles/restored-acorn-corner-opens-to-public-3252d93d
/locations/9147385
Monday, April 1, 2013
New outdoors outfitters shop part of class of new stores in redevelopment
About a week ago I shared the news of three new restaurants downtown that closed last month mostly due to lackluster sales. For the sake of balance, I pointed to many of the successful, enduring businesses downtown that remain — including other stores that had opened around the same time those that closed first turned on the lights. When I didn't mention his business, and rightfully so, Tim Nightengale at Wild Earth Outfitters contacted me to share the fact that his outdoor outfitter — open less than two years — is doing quite well despite multiple road closures and the other challenges that come with being located at ground zero for construction of Kent's redevelopment. So I was surprised when he hesitated after I asked for his secret to …
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Wild Earth Outfitters
175 E Erie St, Kent, OH
/articles/wild-earth-weathers-the-storm-downtown
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Sunday, March 31, 2013
City, PARTA say they will not lease spaces in the new parking deck
Monday, March 25, 2013
PARTA, city plan to make 365 spaces available to public
Drivers will not be able to lease or "buy" the rights to one of the 365 parking spaces in PARTA's new Kent Central Gateway transit center in downtown Kent. The new transit center, in which the parking aspect was scheduled to open this month, won't open until mid April, the Record-Courier reported Friday. Bryan Smith, director of planning for PARTA, said that when the deck opens it will be available to everyone. "We do not plan to lease spaces," Smith said in an email. Essentially, that means business and property owners won't be able to plunk down cash for guaranteed spaces in the deck. The city, which invested about $4 million to help build the parking levels of the deck, has entered into a lease agreement with PARTA to manage the public …
41.1527
-81.356399
/articles/no-plans-to-lease-parking-spaces-in-transit-center
/locations/9076437
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Three eateries closed this month in the redevelopment area
Friday, March 22, 2013
Three eateries in downtown Kent closed this month
This week we learned three of Kent's newer eateries that opened as part of downtown's redevelopment were forced to close their doors. The Dog Squad and Arctic Squirrel, a gourmet hot dog shop and ice cream parlor, closed their doors one week ago today. Soup joint Funky Ladles also shut down. They're certainly not the first. And they won't be the last. Do you remember Vintage Rehab? The store sold gently used clothing and was one of the first tenants in the first phase of the Acorn Alley redevelopment. The store closed in 2010 after being open slightly more than a year. The silver lining there is that Off the Wagon expanded by taking over the former clothier space. Did you ever peruse the fabrics at Katie Brooke Quilt Shop? The sewing and …
Mars
2:17 pm on Sunday, April 21, 2013
Best point yet. No one ever talks about how the university ploy really works. Good ol' boys club if there ever was one. more ›