City Hall at 525 Angela Street isn't completely empty. The building has essentially been condemned and most of the city staff that used to work there are now in temporary digs, rented for a million bucks a year according to the paper, at Habana Plaza on Flagler Avenue. The old place on Angela Street is now marking time.
I went by recently to take a few pictures because it seems likely that this place will be torn down sooner or later. The question is: what will come in it's place? Across the street the owner of the hotel has expressed her undying opposition to any reconstruction saying a building site will send her establishment into bankruptcy.
Which attitude would pretty much end all construction everywhere in the city. City Hall is old and worn and Hurricane Wilma in 2005 didn't help.
After the flood waters receded city employees complained of mold problems throughout the building and after some considerable dithering the decision was made by some important people, that the city does in fact need a new city hall. So almost everyone was moved out.
I wandered in and met Miz Alice in Human Resources who was as usual very friendly and cheerful at her desk. She said the Internet Technology department is still in the building but HR is a lonely lot down in the semi-basement, an off white hall with electrical cables snaking across the walls and a rather worn gray carpet underfoot. The entrance smacks of a 1960 era school:
I didn't bother to go upstairs, indeed I've never had reason to go upstairs. 
One used to pay parking tickets at the little booth downstairs and on the last occasion I lost my health insurance card I visited Miz Alice in her lair for my replacement. Other than that I have never had much reason to visit city hall. And what exactly a Cemetery Consultant is I have absolutely no clue. Nor shall I presumably in their brave new city hall, wherever that might end up being.
The back of the building is a large parking lot, properly metered and very useful too for any activities one might be involved in on the 600 block of Duval which is a short walk away.
The old building really does need to be replaced. The old louvered windows have been covered inexplicably by cement bricks. A rat's staircase according to one wag who used to work in the building.
The question is what to do next. Replacing city hall and the fire station would supposedly cost 18 million dollars and the city has already spent 750,000 on architect's plans. The other idea is to build a new fire station here and use the rest of the space for a parking garage. All that and converting Glynn Archer School, mentioned in a previous essay would cost an estimated 25 million dollars.
On the Simonton Street side of the building lies Fire Station Number Two.
It is an unprepossessing place and clearly also needs replacement. Whatever plans have been mooted so far the idea remains to keep the Fire Station in place. This is the first line of defense for Duval Street and the core of Old Town. Response times are critical in a part of town consisting of old wood buildings with no off sets.
I myself would take no joy in being a fire fighter working 24 hour shifts and never knowing when Dispatch will roll you out of bed with a horrible tone. Sometimes they bring us food on holidays and they know how to cook.
Walking back around to Angela Street we see the hotel across the way. The idea is that construction noise and dirt would drive customers away when they build something on the lot.
It is vegetated enough you'd think there would be some cover for the guests. City hall itself is shaded by trees, which hides the elderly nature of the building itself at first glance.
The municipal trash can has another of those cute little notices on it to encourage everyone to use the bins:
Eventually I expect they will start binning the building itself. Whatever comes next, and whatever it is will arouse controversy in our little tea cup of a town, I'm glad I remembered to snag some pictures of the old place.
I went by recently to take a few pictures because it seems likely that this place will be torn down sooner or later. The question is: what will come in it's place? Across the street the owner of the hotel has expressed her undying opposition to any reconstruction saying a building site will send her establishment into bankruptcy.Which attitude would pretty much end all construction everywhere in the city. City Hall is old and worn and Hurricane Wilma in 2005 didn't help.After the flood waters receded city employees complained of mold problems throughout the building and after some considerable dithering the decision was made by some important people, that the city does in fact need a new city hall. So almost everyone was moved out.I wandered in and met Miz Alice in Human Resources who was as usual very friendly and cheerful at her desk. She said the Internet Technology department is still in the building but HR is a lonely lot down in the semi-basement, an off white hall with electrical cables snaking across the walls and a rather worn gray carpet underfoot. The entrance smacks of a 1960 era school:
I didn't bother to go upstairs, indeed I've never had reason to go upstairs. One used to pay parking tickets at the little booth downstairs and on the last occasion I lost my health insurance card I visited Miz Alice in her lair for my replacement. Other than that I have never had much reason to visit city hall. And what exactly a Cemetery Consultant is I have absolutely no clue. Nor shall I presumably in their brave new city hall, wherever that might end up being.The back of the building is a large parking lot, properly metered and very useful too for any activities one might be involved in on the 600 block of Duval which is a short walk away.The old building really does need to be replaced. The old louvered windows have been covered inexplicably by cement bricks. A rat's staircase according to one wag who used to work in the building.The question is what to do next. Replacing city hall and the fire station would supposedly cost 18 million dollars and the city has already spent 750,000 on architect's plans. The other idea is to build a new fire station here and use the rest of the space for a parking garage. All that and converting Glynn Archer School, mentioned in a previous essay would cost an estimated 25 million dollars.On the Simonton Street side of the building lies Fire Station Number Two.It is an unprepossessing place and clearly also needs replacement. Whatever plans have been mooted so far the idea remains to keep the Fire Station in place. This is the first line of defense for Duval Street and the core of Old Town. Response times are critical in a part of town consisting of old wood buildings with no off sets.I myself would take no joy in being a fire fighter working 24 hour shifts and never knowing when Dispatch will roll you out of bed with a horrible tone. Sometimes they bring us food on holidays and they know how to cook.Walking back around to Angela Street we see the hotel across the way. The idea is that construction noise and dirt would drive customers away when they build something on the lot.
It is vegetated enough you'd think there would be some cover for the guests. City hall itself is shaded by trees, which hides the elderly nature of the building itself at first glance.The municipal trash can has another of those cute little notices on it to encourage everyone to use the bins:Eventually I expect they will start binning the building itself. Whatever comes next, and whatever it is will arouse controversy in our little tea cup of a town, I'm glad I remembered to snag some pictures of the old place.
"...didn't have her collar on." Perhaps that wouldn't have saved her from abduction if the person who found her wanted her and didn't do the right thing and drop her off at the SPCA on Stock Island as one should. On our frequent walks around town I see things that strike me but have no context so I take a picture and hope I remember to add to my next list of inconsequential curiosities. Like this shutter next to Blue Heaven restaurant studded with staples. A former public bill board I suppose now painted over. 
We have had the first round of elections running up to this November and the other day I actually saw someone taking the time to remove a losing candidates bill boards from the side of the road. I wish I remember whose it was. Such civic pride might induce me to vote for them next time around. I am by turns amused and annoyed by misspelled signs. Sometimes I am tripped up by the essential ie spell word checker but I would resist the temptation to post a notice without first checking the spelling.
Parking is always an issue in Key West. This next is a shot I took down Southard Street and yet not a few hours later a neighbor from this area called Dispatch to let us know an out of town car was parked in a residential spot (you have to have a tag stamped with the word "Monroe" or have a sticker to enjoy the privilege of these special spots). 
Parking rubs some people's nerves quite raw. I am glad I live in the suburbs on these occasions, and I feel privileged my expensive vehicles get to sit under the house and out of the sun's damaging rays. This next sign made me laugh out loud; happily it is September and no one was around except Cheyenne to listen to me bray.
This sign isn't a misspelling, it's just a sign of age and wear and tear at the elderly Fire Station Number Two on Simonton at Angela Streets.
Cheyenne completely ignored this sign on the fence as she stumped by. Perhaps she felt it struck a little too close to her own home. 
On the subject of Angela Street this next sign always stirs passers by, the dead end at the cemetery on Angela at Grinnell. However the "one way" sign is now pointing the wrong way. Very confusing. Why the powers-that-be made that decision I couldn't say. I just try to remind myself of the new reality before I embark on the street.
A while back they decided to make a bunch of narrow streets in Bahama Village one way in varying directions. I suppose those changes were necessary in these SUV encumbered times but I still find myself making extra circuits in the village in an effort to find a street heading my way. I am a slow learner. Chickens, here's another one for those that like to see them roaming the streets. Actually this is a rooster known to British/English speakers (an intemperate lot) as a cock.
A friend gave us a piece of Frangipani promising if we planted it, despite it's severed state, it would grow. This one was trying to make a go of it in a garbage can. I think it's fate is sealed even as mine is showing signs indeed of sprouting. 
In the midst of life we are in death. This next place has been on the market for some considerable time but unless someone decides to buy it, one has to suppose it will remain moribund on the Boulevard.
There are a few VW vans around town. Like classic motorcycles they are a source of nostalgia for me even though I suffered all the traits of unreliability that both my vans could possibly have inflicted on me (and are famous for). If you want to hear my wife swear like a fishwife ask her about the splendid $7,000 Vanagon I insisted we buy years ago to enable us to travel more comfortably (with our then Labrador). 
I read from time to time the question on Trip Adviser, "Where do locals eat?" Outback, Miami Subs and so forth are the places locals can afford, but tourists don't want to hear that reality. Conchs do love their Dairy Queen across the street from the Weather Station. They even have stickers on their cars to prove it. 
No really they do.
Dairy Queen is tucked away out of sight but if you want to meet locals at their favorite watering hole that's where you go. Sorry about that, reality intrudes once again. I haven't yet seen 105 degrees on the car temperature gauge as we saw in our cross country trip across the Great Plains this summer. But I did see this:
When we started the process of trying to renegotiate our home loan with Wells Fargo the witches of the Bank Too Big Too Fail argued we were spending too much for gas and could cut back to make our $3,000 a month payment on our devalued house more affordable. Yup, sure we could. 
I expect gas is cheaper where they live and do business collecting TARP funds.
It's that time of year again, a new pair of $30 Crocs to replace the last set I wore out over the summer. I went with a different shade this time. The clerk at the Neat Stuff store on Flagler Avenue where I get my Crocs said they are Salmon colored (not crass pink). 
They are not as nice as my old Fuchsia pair, my wife says, but the old ones were worn completely out. Their state of disrepair would have made the Witches of Wells Fargo happy.
And so it goes. New footwear, more bills and summer creeping toward the end of hurricane season. So far so good. 
Meteorologists will tell you that August is statistically the hottest month of the year, longer days produce more sunshine and the rebounding heat of May, June and July produces higher temperatures. However I am here to say that September always seems warmer because one is more inclined to hope that the heat will end soon. Sometimes we think the world has reversed itself; we all know that Angela Street alongside the cemetery is one way outbound toward Frances. Not any more, nowadays the one way street is inbound toward Margaret. It's all signposted but I find the situation confusing because I am a creature of habit.
I need to make it clear that I don't much mind the heat of summer, a high of 95 degrees and high humidity is relatively comfortable for me, especially considering I work in air conditioning and my home is comfortably air conditioned. Lacking the a/c I wouldn't like it as much I'm sure. Cheyenne is a smart dog- she hunts shade this time of year.
Or perhaps a chance to look up in the sky and see I don't know exactly what.
By the time we reached Southard Street I felt that perhaps my dog had sufficient energy to walk back to the car and the cemetery without expiring. We stood under the awning of the old Haitian Art Gallery, now looking rather spiffy as some new gallery, and as we stood I looked across at Cafe Sole. 
I find it encouraging to see people pedalling in the heat. Perhaps they have no choice as about one third of the city's 23,000 residents have no cars, These bicycles appeared to be the same models equipped the same way and likely for the use of the guests at the nearby Bottle Inn.
It looks just as one would imagine a guest house in Key West should look. There are so many of them, and I stay in none of them so I guess it's not surprising I had not previously noticed it, tucked away under it's canopy of leaves.
Cheyenne had other things on her mind. 
Sometimes my dog thinks too much. When she senses a walk is coming to an end she seems to sniff harder and further as though to take advantage of every last moment. She sometimes seems to forget her life has changed and walks are now a twice daily occurrence.