Market street is a disgrace to Morrison

Let's be honest, the South facing building walls on Market Street in downtown Morrison are a disgrace to the community and to the business community.

Besides being drab and run down most of the buildings have major safety problems including some of the most innovative strings of high power cabling you might ever come across. Please use this article as your own personal invitation to take a walk on the "wild side" by strolling down Market Street.There can be agreement a few building owners have taken the initiative with some serious renovation at their own expense. The American Express building (previously Dewey Mulnix barber shop) has been renovated very nicely both the Main Street and Market Street facings. The Steve Deckro building also is well done and the addition of the awnings and the faithful 1800's era signage adds to the architectural flavor of the structure.

However, the renovation stops there and 4 blocks of Market Street building facades continue to crumble. Is there a plan somewhere in our future for this continuing eyesore? This writer walked the length of these 4 blocks and noted rear apartment doors open or no doors at all. Outside stairs using some very shaky looking wood framing. Wooden trap doors in the sidewalk, draping from the weather and walkers,One must wonder when these trap doors will become traps for the unsuspecting as they stroll across them. The overhead wiring, who exactly designed some of this mess? And the power poles, weather beaten and showing the signs of aged wood with the creosote protecting them long gone. We have provided some of the best Main Street light posts and seem to have lost control of the poles on Market Street.What about the falling masonry and brick facings on some buildings?It is simply disgraceful and any negative comment offered by any driver entering from the South on Highway 78 coming North is well deserved by the business community owners with Market Street facades.

With the very real possiblity now of a Highway 30 reroute South of Morrison in the next few years the downtown business community needs to be thinking and planning about their collective futures. Additionally, what does the condition of these Market Street facades really tell a prospective new business owner about our community? What message is this sending to our own community members? It's a disgrace by any degree until a plan of action takes form to fix the problem.

(by Bob Vaughn, Guest Columnist)