Mr. Farris Goes to City Hall is our monthly column in which we highlight some of the goings-on that are happening (or about to happen) in Denton.
The Downtown Task Force has been busy after taking a month off. Two major grants and a sign grant were approved this week. The first is a project in the old Barney’s building off of East Hickory. Barney’s is known for not being in code for years, holes in the roof and generally just a collections of rusting items in the back but still has a cool facade. There are plans to keep that facade and turn the property into a “Foundry-style” (bar in Dallas beside Chicken Scratch) indoor/outdoor pub with a place for food trucks to pull up. If it went into place it would be one of the first things you’d see if entering the downtown area from the train on foot. This site at 331 E/ Hickory is unnamed as-of-now, but we are waiting with bated breath to see if it comes about.
The DIME store is getting a sign update that looks lovely, lit, and double sided. It’s up on a pole and will remain there since it was grandfathered in and we’re glad because we love them.
Also, be on the look out for thew new bike racks designed by Sean Starr of Starr Studios. They’re being fabricated by our very own Parks and Rec. and are paid for by a Neighborhood Empowerment Grant we wrote last year and received. They're shaped like little d's and will be quite colorful. They'll be placed around downtown in various locations. You can check out a rendering of them above.
By the time this is posted, will Herrera’s be open? We hope so! We’ll keep you posted on when the Sysco truck is loading actual food into the kitchen but until then we'll keep our fingers crossed. Their soft opening date is set for tomorrow, March 26th. We hope to check it out and let ya know.
A render of some of the signage that will guide people into Denton.
There’s about to be some monument-style way finding signs installed. By the end of the summer you’ll start to see these getting installed that will help you and people from out of town find things in Denton like UNT, TWU and City Hall. One of the main goals for the signs will be to direct folks to all the free parking on the square that’s there that people don’t think about. The signs will be scaled for pedestrian and vehicular traffic and are a product of our beloved Downtown Implementation Plan. Want to get nerdy about downtown? Print that and read it over a weekend.
If you’re OCD, the 3 colors of yellow that attempt to cover the Scripture building and the missing spire on the corner of Elm and Oak have been driving you insane for years. Scott Brown is now in the process of fixing it up to be his realty office and apartments on top and behind. While this doesn’t really add anything to the square as far as traffic goes (before it was an office and apartments also) at least we’ll see a new, historic awning and some fresh paint and please oh please just replace that missing spire.
Over the next month you’ll be noticing more candidates out and about at forums and in people's homes giving their pitch for what their vision for the future of Denton is. We encourage you to take part in the municipal process of choosing leaders that will shape our future by going to these events and asking the tough questions. Get active and get engaged because the way you vote on May 10th or early vote starting April 28th will have an effect on you the second you step foot on the sidewalk outside your doorway. Check out Kevin Roden’s exploratory video about what this upcoming election is about, get registered, and be sure to vote.
That’s it for this month. Be sure to register to vote and then be sure to vote. Make democracy count!