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Comments:
Jane - 2004-12-31 01:00:37 Man, that was a smoky place. But fun. Knew/know several folks who worked there. Once after seeing Lou Reed along with The Feelies (or was it The Sillies?) in Detroit we took a friend who was visiting from NYC. "This place is wonderful," she exclaimed. "New York doen't have anything this cool!" How is that the Cross Street strip can't support businesses very well? I guess it's the orphan child of downtown. * * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2004-12-31 14:00:15 Jane, I am curious as to the defects you noticed at the time. It sounds more and more as if it's a lucky thing no one got hurt while it was open. Raymond: yes, that's a cursed spot for businesses, it seems. I do love going to Art Attack a bit further west. Wonderful place full of cool art stuff and nice people. And there's always the old reliable if now barely navigable Cross St. bookshop. But rumor has it that Ypsi institution Sheridan is toying with the idea of branching out into a whole new business, since "books don't pay." I would be very sad to see this wonderful bookshop close. I always find good stuff there, and if it's not what I planned to find, so much the better, as that introduces me to new things. Besides I love conversations with Sheridan. Last time I was there my entire 45-minute visit was one giant conversation with him--such a pleasure to talk to.* * * * * * * * * * * * Laura again - 2004-12-31 14:01:42 (oh, and I noticed the formerly empty Vogelein sales display bin has been restocked with new copies, good).* * * * * * * * * * * * Jane - 2004-12-31 15:12:33 Well, I didn't so much see the structural defects, but I felt like absolutely everything in that place would have to be taken down to the studs in order to reopen and pass OSHA -- even the beautiful old tile floor. The booths and tables were rickety and nasty, the bar didn't appear to be in good shape, and the bathrooms would need to be completely redone. That'd be about 85K worth of work right there. Unfortunately, it sounds like when they got it down to the studs, the structure wasn't sound, and a foot of water in the basement forebodes all sorts of problems. Expensive problems. Sheridan is an incredible guy. I know people who'd literally weep over the loss of that store. Half the research books I used on Vogelein were bought from him. Keep me posted on what's going on with his bookstore -- the last couple times I've been in he's been really depressed about the state of his building and block -- no more China House, no more Liquor's Quicker, and now the Station's in really bad shape. Poor guy. His store and La Fiesta are two of the finest places in Ypsi. * * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2004-12-31 15:36:56 I've eaten good food in La Fiesta, and I love going to a place that's family-run. Plus you can get stuff there that's off the radar elsewhere, like dishes with cactus. I also have gotten the impression from recent visits that Sheridan is down about the block, justifiably. I will be visiting again in a few days once my New Year's ration of new used books runs out, and I'll let you know of any new developments. Last time I was there we had a long conversation about the general wastefulness of destroying buildings and whether or not a living could be made from salvaging things from buildings slated to be demolished. He told me about a library that exists in the old psych hospital and how much he'd love to save it before the buildings are leveled. I told him about my recent urbex visit there and he asked me whom to contact, and the best (feeble) suggestion I could give was to contact Toyota and just resolutely push through the layers of people till he got someone who could give him a contact at the psych hospital. I am so fond of Sheridan. He's such a fine person. I think there's a whole invisible cloud of locals who admire him from afar and only wish the best for his longtime, clinging-by-the-fingernails bookstore.* * * * * * * * * * * * m. flaneur - 2004-12-31 16:07:52 I saw many shows at the Cross Street but I never really dug that joint. The layout was terrible for live music and the draught beer tasted like the tap lines had never been cleaned. And one can't forget the underlying miasma...* * * * * * * * * * * * Dan Arbor - 2004-12-31 16:10:34 Hmmm, mixed feelings about the place. At one point, it was pretty cool dive, and I supported a lot of local musician friends there. But in later years, it went from dive to biohazard. The place really became filthy to the point where you didn't want to touch anything. And to second Jane's comment, only the truly brave used the bathrooms. The thing I remember most was the awful, sticky floor. It was covered with a patina of brown, varnish-like filth. By the time of my last visit to the place, it had gone from sticky, to tacky, to something like walking on epoxy. If you dropped something, you left it there to be eaten by the floor. *shudder** * * * * * * * * * * * Laura - 2004-12-31 16:31:24Ick. The place is so lauded by bands who played there back when that I'm surprised to hear Dan Arbor's assessment. A sticky floor is never an attraction. Yuck. Le Flaneur confirms this assessment of filth. Hm. Perhaps it's better that...* * * * * * * * * * * * win - 2005-10-08 11:27:00 Take your time to take a look at the sites about poker ...* * * * * * * * * * * * add your comment: |