Sixth Street's chilly but enthusiastic rededication ceremonyWell, if you really want to start at the beginning, Friday night's party on Sixth Street had its origins in 1848, when planks were first installed on the Janesville Plank Road, making it the gateway to Racine. There was a toll booth near Mound Cemetery; the fee was one cent per mile for a wagon and horse.
It wasn't until 1884 that the first pavers -- limestone blocks from the Horlick Quarry -- were installed; bricks didn't come until 1895, and they lasted until the 1940s.
This brief history was presented by John Busey, chairman of the Downtown Racine Corporation, as long-suffering merchants joined city and construction officials to rededicate Sixth Street, celebrating the completion of a two-year, $3 million project that officially began six years ago. Hopefully, it will last for another 50 years.
Busey and Devin Sutherland, executive director of DRC, presented 100-year-old "ceremonial bricks" unearthed during the project, to many of the local officials and workers from HNTB and Oakes Construction who were instrumental in the street's rebirth.
The first went to State Sen. John Lehman, D-Racine, who led the successful effort to get an extra $500,000 from the state, money that turned an everyday street into the attractive streetscape that is the new Sixth: with street furniture, ornamental lighting and brick pavers. For Lehman the day overflowed: he also celebrated the birth Friday of a granddaughter.
The nip in the air kept speeches mercifully short. Mayor John Dickert brought a proclamation, but said, "there are far too many 'whereases' in it; read it in 100 years."
DRC's John Busey and Devin Sutherland showed off time capsuleThe highlight of the rededication ceremony in the parking lot of Porters of Racine was the burying of a time capsule, full of mementos from Sixth Street merchants, the Racine Heritage Museum and DRC. There's a history of Sixth Street, a copy of the legislature's proclamation this week in honor of the city's 175th anniversary, a CD with 250 photos of the city, t-shirts from Joey's on Sixth and some other businesses.
The capsule -- an 8" in diameter tube about two feet long -- was built by Feiner Plumbling. Although it looked like stainless steel, in reality it was PVC pipe painted silver. The biggest problem with similar time capsules is that people forget about them long before, say, 50 years goes by. Sutherland said he's got that problem under control: there's a national register for time capsules, and Chris Paulson, director of the Heritage Museum, will geocache the location. (A lesser problem will be whether our descendants who open the time capsule during the street's next reconstruction in 2060, or whenever, will know what to do with a CD -- but that's their problem, not ours.)
The capsule was handed to Bob and Micah Waters of Porters of Racine; their store, which opened in 1857, is almost as old as Sixth Street itself. Bob gently lowered the capsule into a hole drilled by Feiner Plumbing into the sidewalk. Barely an hour after the ceremony ended, two workmen from Midwest Paving had cemented the capsule into place and covered it with one of the decorative granite inserts designed by Erika Adams.
By then, the party was well underway, with cheesecake and other snacks available at most of Sixth Street's galleries and eateries, and along Main Street, a bigger kickoff than usual for Downtown's First Friday celebration.
Kids exhibited photos of what it's been like for two years
Couple marvels at old wooden water pipe that ran under the street
Bob and Micah Waters with the time capsule
...which Bob gently lowers into the sidewalk
...where it's now covered by this decorative granite insert
Fred Evans provided the music at Photographic Designs' party
Sweet.
ReplyDeleteLove the decorative insert, Now thats art !
With all the poverty and misery in this sad city, we need less art and more heart.
ReplyDeleteAlso placed into the time capsule was John Dickert's 10 year plan.
ReplyDeleteTo 10:09
ReplyDeleteThat philosophy cracks me up. As long as there is poverty...
So you are saying as long as there are people who are less fortunate, there should be no beauty in the world?Ridiculous!! And just because someone likes art does not mean they are not generous to food pantries and shelters.On the contrary, they are the ones who DO donate money.Do you hold that same philosophy to professional sports. We all know pro athletes make a ton more money that artist. Are you criticizing them too? Probably not.
Anon- 10:09am
ReplyDeleteWe have art in order not to die of life. ~(Camus)
Glad to know that Sixth Street's up again.. any chance we can get rid of the parking meters now?
ReplyDeleteDowntown, uptown, high street, west racine... are built on a 'human scale', which means people can walk and not have to cross 3/4 miles of parking lots to get from store to store.... Most of these businesses depend/benefit on/from pedestrian traffic... if people park right outside a business, run in, buy, run out.. that's convenient, yes, but not really how retail areas such as these were ever designed to be used...and streets bustling with people....are fun!
Many people avoid downtown because of the parking meter enforcement... and on Saturdays too? Even Milwaukee doesn't do that.
How about a holiday reprise at least?
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ReplyDeleteJeeves, if you've got something to say, say it without prof*nity of any kind.
ReplyDeleteIn the photos I see no blacks or need I say it? Koreans. So WE have again made Racine safe for the rich/white Pary on!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Ben regarding the parking meters blanketing this city. The program does not make money and getting a ticket on a lonely street with few cars parked makes people really cranky.
ReplyDeleteI of course also agree with Albert Camus.
Dear 10:33, Sports could certainly be a non-essential item we ought to drop from our budgets until we've lifted our people out of poverty. The reason I'd mentioned art as an expensive and expendable frill is the fact that the oligarchy in charge of this toadish town promotes art to the detriment of anything which may help our less-fortunate citizens. Back in the Dirty Thirties, a certain corrupt corporate crime family fell under the influence of Frank Llloyd Wright, a racist and elitist twit to whom beauty trumped duty. Ever since then, an evil clan I'll call the "Waxtrash" and their salary serfs from Cornell have pushed pulchritude as the ultimate value. Although beauty in and of itself isn't evil, the worship of beauty and art for their own sakes can't be justified in a moral society. As for the fairy fib that those who support the arts are more likely to help the poor, please don't make me laugh. Right before the French Revolution erupted in 1789, the privileged classes were busy buying art galore while doing darned little to assist their victims. In fact, it could be argued that the French aristocracy and bourgeoisie's yen to acquire pretty objects intensified their exploitation of the poor--after all, art and other eye candy cost money. Any way you slice it, cash blown on beautification is money which fails to benefit the system's victims. Wherever you encounter art worship and aestheticism among the elite, the poor suffer. In short, the juxtaposition of Rat-Scene's hideous poverty statistics with a billionaire crime clan's arty priorities is no accident.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how long the denizens of non-elite Racine will allow the plutocrats and their bourgeois epigones to play arty little games on Sick-th Street. Sooner or later, this evil excuse for a city will explode. (No, this is NOT a threat. Rather, it is a comment from a person who's studied revolutions for more than half a century. If any place is ripe for the Grim Reaper, it's Racine.)
ReplyDeleteBelieve me, I saw what God's poor could do to historic districts in Boston, Philadelphia and other municipalities. When Sixth Street sizzles, please don't say that you weren't warned. Anyone who thinks that our low-income people will tolerate a system which benefits only the rich is in for a rude awakening. The solvent white boys and girls' playpen--aka downtown Racine--is due for major changes.
ReplyDeleteJust look at a map of our sorry city and you'll see that real Racine (aka Rat-Scene) is next door to richie-poo Historic Sixth Street. Verbum sapientibus...
ReplyDeleteAs poor as I am, I wouldn't accept Sixth Street real estate as a gift. If the infernal economy doesn't kill the businesses there, the angry residents of the adjacent 'hood will take care of them.
ReplyDeleteMr. Angry - 4:39, where have you been. We've missed your pathetic comments.
ReplyDeleteAll of these negative comments are really sad. We all have a right to our opinion, but if you people all feel such hate for Racine, why are you still here?? Move, get the hell out, spread your negative views somewhere else.
ReplyDeleteBelieve me, if I could leave, I'd be out of here fast. Unfortunately, I'm stuck in The Rodent City due to family responsibilities and a reverse mortgage on a house which I can't convert into cash. Nobody with a functioning brain wants Rat-Scene real estate.
ReplyDeleteThe guy or gal who said there was a curse on Racine wasn't kidding. Most people who wind up here learn to hate the place pronto. (The only Belle City boosters I've met are either members of a corrupt billionaire corporate crime family or their six-figure flunkeys from Cornell.)
ReplyDeleteDear 10:13 A.M., Although there's no "Mr. Angry," there are lots of angry men who despise corporate capitalism and work for its destruction. Many of us feel the same way about the oligarchy responsible for most of the misery in this municipality. There's nothing wrong with our sad country and our sorry town which socialism couldn't cure.
ReplyDeleteI know I already said there are 2 Mr. Angry's not just one. You have joined the other Mr. Angry's ranks. And from your posts, I know one from the other. You 2 are so obvious it's funny.
ReplyDeleteJoe Malin, was that your comment? Regardless of your identity, I can truthfully inform you that there are DOZENS of angry men working for the destruction of corporate capitalism in Racine.
ReplyDeleteBut there are only two depressing Mr. Angry's that post out here - I bet there are thousands of idiots in Racine out there like you. You know the lazy, depressed, angry, cheap, poor - entitlements for ever people like you. But you all are defenseless - a pathetic group of people.
ReplyDeleteThe privileged classes of Detroit said the same thing back in 1967. Then the Algiers Motel Incident triggered the Urban Insurrection which reduced entire neighborhoods to rubble. Later, in April, 1968, the tragic death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. sparked more Motown mayhem. Using whatever they had, Detroit's disadvantaged people settled accounts with their oppressors, including foreign-born entrepreneurs who sold them expired food at high prices. Today's poor--who have access to cars and better weapons than their forebears--are capable of inflicting immense damage. If you've ever looked at a map of this far from pretty city, you'll know that poverty pockets are everywhere. When Racine's marginalized people rise up, they'll take out arty-tarty upscale real estate. Unlike some of their ancestors, they'll know whose property to fry and how to roast it a.s.a.p. Also, let's not forget that the modern pauper often has computer skills and can utilize high tech equipment in ways his progenitors never could have imagined.By requiring the poor to acquire vehicles and computer literacy in order to obtain jobs, the rich and the upper middle class have unwittingly taught the poor how to fight. Because the rich and their comfortable epigones have dodged military service and relegated it to the poor as something to do when the plants aren't hiring, the poor know how to use violence to accomplish a mission and are less reluctant to attack their class enemies than non-militarized people would be. (NONE OF THE ABOVE IS A THREAT ADDRESSED TO ANYONE. RATHER, IT IS A SOCIO-ECONOMIC WATCHMAN'S REPORT.)
ReplyDeleteThen there's the demographic factor. Although upper-middleclass families tend to be small, many low-income families are large. Where you find lots of angry young men and women with zero allegiance to the status quo and nothing to lose, violence is likely to erupt. Anyone who thinks that the poor can't burn any district they desire to carbonize is crazy. (AGAIN,THE ABOVE REMARKS ARE A WATCHMAN'S WARNING, NOT A THREAT.)
ReplyDeleteBelieve me, the wicked Waxies are aware of the facts. If they weren't, they wouldn't have a Director of Worldwide Security on their staff. If you want to make the Waxtrash nervous, just let large groups of minority youngsters roam through the elite's "Lakeside Business District," aka Downtown Racine.
ReplyDeleteI love it when someone responds to their own posts. Can't wait for someone to respond? Pete and Dustin you should track this guy down. His comments are clearly threats and should be turned over to the police. This is no different than a terrorist threat.
ReplyDeleteNo, it is a historian's interpretation of current conditions. My friends and I are just the watchmen warning our readers about events which could happen if serious situations aren't rectified soon.
ReplyDeleteThis guy is dangerous - he should be turned over to not only the local police, but the FBI also. He constantly threatens the public. Look what happened at Ft. Hood when no one put the pieces together. This guy is a threat to society. Pete and Dustin don't wait until it is too late
ReplyDeleteThe statements are not threats. Rather, they're attempts to wise up our civic leaders and prevent violence.
ReplyDeleteWe watchmen condemn all acts of violence, especially the atrocities at Fort Hood!
ReplyDeleteYou said: If you've ever looked at a map of this far from pretty city, you'll know that poverty pockets are everywhere. When Racine's marginalized people rise up, they'll take out arty-tarty upscale real estate. Unlike some of their ancestors, they'll know whose property to fry and how to roast it a.s.a.p. Also, let's not forget that the modern pauper often has computer skills and can utilize high tech equipment in ways his progenitors never could have imagined.By requiring the poor to acquire vehicles and computer literacy in order to obtain jobs, the rich and the upper middle class have unwittingly taught the poor how to fight. Because the rich and their comfortable epigones have dodged military service and relegated it to the poor as something to do when the plants aren't hiring, the poor know how to use violence to accomplish a mission and are less.
ReplyDeleteThat is a threat if I've ever heard one. They are the things that terrorist say - the Uni bomber etc. These type of threats should be taken seriously. In this day and age - any threat should be taken seriously and I hope Pete and Dustin are looking into it. etc. ever
The statements you misinterpreted as threats are an honest analysis of socio-economic conditions in Racine. An inspector who tells a homeowner that his property is in bad shape doesn't cause problems--rather, he shows the property owner what to do in order to keep his residence from collapsing. (By the way, the socio-economic problems we've mentioned aren't confined to Racine. Thanks to capitalism's tendency to enrich the few at the expense of the majority, the problems are pandemic and afflict millions of victims throughout our sad land.)
ReplyDeleteNevertheless, the problems are particularly serious in Racine due to the power of an extremely avaricious and arrogant corporate crime family whose six-figure Ivy League lackeys inflict misery galore on our low-income residents.
ReplyDeleteSumming up the situation, I'd have to report that Racine is in terrible shape. Low average income, high secondary school dropout rate, astronomical unemployment rate and soaring minority infant mortality rate juxtaposed with labor exploitation and property tax dodging by world-class billionaire corporate criminals can mean only one thing--Rat-Scene, aka The Rodent City, alias the Mickey Mouse Company Town is in BAD shape. Since money equals power and power implies responsibility, we all know which crass cash-cadging crooks to blame for the misbegotten mess on the shore of Lake Michi-Gone.
ReplyDeleteFrom those who have too much, everything may be taken--the legal, non-violent way. Once we elect progressive leaders who'll pass new tax laws guaranteed to smash our oppressors,we'll have the funds to build a cradle-to-grave social safety net for ALL our citizens.
ReplyDeleteComing soon to Lighthouse Loot Lords and Lucre Ladies' oh-so-cushy compounds: social justice eminent domain, featuring the nationalization of entire industries, the confiscation of mansions and the expropriation of privately-held art objects valued at $100,000.00 per unit.
ReplyDeleteWait until the exploiters get a load of the wealth caps. When the government limits an individual's fortune to $10,000,000.00, the big buck buccaneers will scream.
ReplyDeleteNOBODY should be perching obscenely on piles of mega-moolah while his fellow-citizens go without the basics. The sooner a lawfully-elected people's government seizes the private sector privateers' stashes, the better.
ReplyDeleteMr. Angry it is really funny how you have back peddled on your threats, but the harm has already been done.
ReplyDeleteThere is NO "Mr. Angry" and our statements are NEVER intended as threats. If a concerned neighbor noticed that the roof of your residence was ready to collapse and he called you to warn you about the impending disaster, he'd be helping you, NOT threatening you. We watchmen want to prevent socio-economic chaos, NOT instigate it. If you wish to find the criminals responsible for what could be a violent class clash, visit the boardrooms and exclusive clubs of our sad land. Through their greed and cruelty, the fiscal fiends are preparing the way for the violent type of revolution which we watchmen work to avert.
ReplyDeleteYes, there are two Mr. Angry's who threaten the public every day.
ReplyDeleteNo, there are powerful oligarchs whose corporate crimes harm the rest of us every day.
ReplyDeleteMr. Angry - at least they do not threaten people physically like you.
ReplyDeleteNo, I have never threatened anyone in my life. Rather, I provide folks with an honest appraisal of current conditions and their future consequences.
ReplyDeleteMr. Angry - your posts have been forward to the police department.
ReplyDeleteGood--the police need to look at the demographics and the economic situation in this town. Until we alleviate the poverty and misery in Racine, violent crime and property-related crime will run rampant. Pockets of poverty spawn crime and spread it to adjacent areas. Since I have nothing but the highest respect for our police department, I'm sure the socio-economic information will be put to good use. (Our cops comprehend the importance of community police work and the need to understand the problems of our low-income citizens.)
ReplyDeleteUntil we eliminate poverty and the despair it inflicts on low-income kids, this sad city will be the gang capital of the Badger State. Ask any policeman involved in anti-gang projects and he'll tell you about the role a good economy could play in reducing crime. Kids who feel that they have something to lose are far less likely to join gangs than kids who see no hope for themselves in the current system.
ReplyDeleteUnlike some folks, the police understand the difference between threats and honest socio-economic commentaries. The man who tells you that your house is ready to collapse isn't the cause of the problem. Rather, he's your best friend because he's trying to avert a catastrophe and save you from harm.
ReplyDeleteAsk any social worker--Racine is in terrible shape. Instead of denying the existence of problems or hectoring the people who warn us about them, we should be working to improve our community and lift the less-fortunate out of poverty.
ReplyDeletesad to say, what I reported about Sixth Street is all-too-true. I know folks who live there. The sound of gunfire is a constant reminder that the six-figure-income boys' arty-tarty playpen is immediately adjacent to low-income-high-crime-rate territory.
ReplyDeleteWarning people about impending disasters is NOT tantamount to causing calamities. Unfortunately, Sixth Street's location and the demographics of the adjacent area spell trouble unless we eradicate poverty and the crime which it spawns. Please don't take my word for it--ask any social worker or law enforcement officer.
ReplyDeleteRacine is a tragic tale of two cities. On the one hand, there's radiant Ray-Scene, the richman's paradise, full of toys for the Waxies and their pals from Cornell. On the other hand, there's raunchy Rat-Scene, where the wage slaves exploited by the Waxies and their buddies exist. Unfortunately, the inhabitants of the two cities neither understand nor like each other.
ReplyDeleteMr. Angry as soon as the police do there internet tracking you'll be finding them at your dooe step concerning your threats, Get ready for visitors - you may want to go out and by some soap on a rope.
ReplyDeleteSince the police are my friends, there's no cause for worry. NEVER have I threatened anyone in any way. However, if you're the alderman who hates unions, people who have to work for a living may not vote for you.
ReplyDeleteMr. Angery I hope you are friends with the FBI also. Futhermore you are mistaken if you think any friendship with the police is going to stop them from investigating your threats to the community. In this day of terrorists, they take every threat seriously. Expect guests and they will not be coming as friends.
ReplyDeleteSince I have never threatened anyone, no offense has been committed. Warning people that our social and economic system is in big trouble is no crime. If we reform the system and build a social safety net for the poor, we may be able to avoid trouble in the future.
ReplyDeleteMr. Angry, I'm done with you, you are are dismissed. Enjoy your guests.
ReplyDeleteMr. Alderman, enjoy your dismissal by constituents who may not re-elect an anti-union public official.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, if people in this community learned to disagree with each other in a civilized way, we could share ideas and achieve something worthwhile. As it is, Racine is notorious for the inability of its people to cooperate with one another. Years ago, a businessman whose family had owned and operated the Western Publishing Company said that Racine was like a chariot pulled by four horses, each of which wanted to run in its own favorite direction. I believe this wise man moved to Florida, where he enjoyed peace and quiet of a type rarely experienced here.
ReplyDelete11:38 - Alderman, I never touched the stuff. It amazes me how many of you dream up this crap - what are you smoking?
ReplyDeleteI wonder if the police have caught up with Mr. Angry because he's been so quiet. Maybe he is not so good of friends with them as he thought.
ReplyDeleteMaybe Mr. Angry is out buying his soap on a rope - he'll need it.
ReplyDeleteThis is about the old wooden sewer pipes from Sixth Street. My kids want to know if there are any more wooden pipes under our streets. In addition, a neighbor who used to live in Philadelphia said that they've still got wooden pipes there.
ReplyDeleteAnother question from the kids: are there tunnels under Sixth Street or beneath some of the buildings there?
ReplyDeleteMy Pop said there still were tunnels under the old structures on the south side of State Street. From what he said, they were used for delivering coal.
ReplyDeleteSomewhere on Washington Avenue there are supposed to be subterranean vaults built by a German brewer back in the mid or late 1800's. One thing I do know for sure is that when a Victorian cistern on College Avenue collapsed, it left a huge sinkhole in a vacant lot which my Uncle had to fill in.
ReplyDeleteMy Grandpa told me that the underground vaults near or beneath Washington Avenue belonged to Shilling's Brewery. As for the tunnels under some Sixth Street buildings, he said they'd been blocked off or partially filled in.
ReplyDeleteFor everyone's sake, I hope those tunnels have been filled in. Old tunnels are dangerous places which, unfortunately, attract kids. Years ago, a public university over in Michigan failed to block off its coal delivery tunnels. When the local Dungeons and Dragons fans learned about the tunnels, they used them as venues for their game. Sad to say, the dope addicts and dealers also discovered the tunnels. As a result, crime flourished. Only after muggings and assaults plus a murder did the authorites do what they should have done once the tunnels had become obsolete: they closed the entrances to the tunnels.
ReplyDelete