LINCOLN HIGHWAY NEWS IS A BLOG BY BRIAN BUTKO
As reported by Nebraska Outback, the town of Brule (west pf Ogalalla) wants to tear down an old hotel along the Lincoln Highway to make way for other businesses. According to KNOP-TV (source of the screen shot below), “A new Community Development Agency in Brule wants to revitalize the downtown area, starting with this old hotel building on 2nd and State streets.”
Although no plan or even interest in the location is mentioned, the agency official nonetheless says a replacement “will be a nice looking structure that will start bringing in tax base. That basically helps all those entities that are dependent on upon tax income.”
It is unfortunate that when a structure looks old or in disrepair that so many want to demolish, when it is just those structures, restored or not, that give a community its character. This sense of heritage is exactly what people come to such towns looking for, not chain businesses that can be found anywhere.
Tags: Brule Nebraska, historic highway, Lincoln Highway, Nebraska, old hotel demolition, roadside attraction
Lincoln Highway News 
April 5, 2013 at 1:26 am |
More of that lack of creative thinking we see more and more of these days. I wonder if they can even define ‘improve the tax base’. This little town has been pretty giving to local business thru tax cuts and other ‘incentives’. That kind of logic is hard to stop because everyone thinks they’re going to make some dough. Maybe if they took a serious look at this place, figure out how to save it and then maybe develop ‘around’ it they might have something there. Bet the local council is run by local real estate agents and their likes.