Don’t ask me but does anyone sweep the sidewalk or gutter in front of their home or business anymore? Maintaining that small slice of public space in front of your property was once a pretty common practice and one of the ways neighbors kept an eye on their street and acknowledged their shared responsibility for a little corner of the world.
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Anyone know what that big white building on Chatham Street is going to be? Someone said it’s supposed to be a dentist’s office but its size and window design make it look more like a function hall. Nothing against Hibernian Hall or St. Michael’s, but Lynn could use another good place for family or public gatherings. Remember when Nandee’s on Market Street was a focal point for social events?
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Speaking of Nandee’s, it would be fun to see some of the old downtown signs that have almost faded into oblivion restored to life. There is the Nandee’s logo facing the Andrew Street municipal parking lot and the “live shows” sign on one of Beden Hardware’s walls on Munroe Street. A little time and paint could restore these memorable relics and enhance the improvements to downtown already made by the Beyond Walls murals and vintage neon signs.
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If memory serves me, the last time you could get your shoes shined around town was in Joe Milo’s on Exchange Street next to Charlie’s Junction Deli. People still wear expensive leather shoes to jobs and social occasions so how come shoe shiners have faded into history? Don’t ask me.
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Anybody know anything about the artist who created those beautiful murals high up on the walls in the Willow Street post office? I think they were a Works Progress Administration (WPA) project. Wasn’t the old Manning Bowl also a WPA job? Anyone still around who worked on WPA or Civilian Conservation Corps projects 80 years ago?
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The former branch library on Parrott Street is now a residential building and the branch library outside Wyoma Square is offices, but what’s going on with the former library building in McDonough Square? Don’t ask me.
While we’re at it — what’s going to become of the Lynn Armory?
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I’d love to have Joe Scanlon, Agnes Ricko, Don Smith and Gladys Pena sit down and swap stories about politics over the past 40 years. By the way, remember when Mitt Romney thought he had Ted Kennedy on the ropes until Kennedy came to Lynn and city Democrats reenergized him during a day-long campaign juggernaut across the city that ended with a barn-burner of a vintage Kennedy speech at the Hibs?
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Are potholes getting bigger or is that just one of those things you imagine as you get older? Don’t ask…
