Progress is a word that oftentimes is a positive word of growth, change, and moving forward, and in terms of the progress of our building at 207 N. Saunders Ave., I can positively say that progress is taking place, and it feels good, because it is time to “go home,” and put the nightmarish past year and a half (almost anyway) behind us.
Of all of the “P words” in the first paragraph, perhaps the missing one that should go along with progress should be PATIENCE!
When Mother Nature served notice to downtown Sutton back on July 29, 2023, that she was waking us up to be better prepared, she wasn’t kidding! There is no doubt that what took place early that Saturday morning could have been much worse, not just to the downtown business district, but to some homes, the Fox Hollow Golf Course, and much more.
But the past 17 months or so have certainly tested my patience, wondering if we’d ever see progress, or how soon it would take to see progress.
From this past Monday, at the time of writing this week’s Bull, thanks to an online “date calculator,” it has been one year, five months, and eight days since that storm damaged many areas of Sutton. That’s 17 months and eight days, or 75 weeks and two days, or 527 calendar days.
As tough as it has been to go through the challenges of the insurance claim, lining up people to do work on our building to the “coffee shop” talk about our building, it’s good to finally say that progress IS being made to the CCN office.
A new roof and a new front facade is in place, with just a few minor things that still need to be done to the front facade.
Inside, if you peek through the new windows that were installed late this past fall, you’ll see that the office space inside the building has the sheetrock removed in most cases, halfway up the wall from the floor.
Mold remediation claimed the lower half of those internal walls, and will eventually be replaced when the progress of our building shifts from clean up to remodeling and eventually our staff “going back home” to the comfy confines of our building.
While my patience has certainly been tested, I’ve learned a lot, from that first day that I was sitting on the couch in our office, just minutes after the EF-1 tornado affected Sutton that day.
The biggest of all is the fact that I hope that we never have to go through what the past 17 months have been like ever again!
I feel that I have become more patient, but that I’ve also become more anxious in dealing with some of the steps that we’ve had to go through in dealing with a damaged building.
Most of those anxious moments have been centered around the socalled “coffee shop talk” that has been openly shared in public settings, from: “I heard your building has been sold,” to “This is what I’d do if I were you.”
You may remember a few months ago I expressed my displeasure at the fact that some people seemed to know more about our future and returning to our building than even I did!
But, that is a moot point at this point, progress IS going on, some days it feels like baby steps, other days it’s stressful to think about how much money is being spent on a late 1890s building.
No, it hasn’t gone back to its original glory, but our building IS coming back to life, step by step, day by day, week by week, and month by month.
To those of you who have been supportive in a positive way, I especially thank you, because there were days when I wondered if we’d ever get back, even to the point that we’re at today.
Obviously, the City of Sutton is at the top of that list of people to thank, on many levels. Tracey Landenberger and the Sutton Police Department for allowing us to invade their space over the past 17 months to have a place to publish our paper each week.
More recently, to the Sutton Council and Mayor Anderson for their support in approving our application for LB840 funding to aid in the rebuilding of 207 N. Saunders Ave.
We’re all lucky to have such a program in Sutton to support its business community. We wouldn’t be where we are, without the city’s support. Thank you!!
