Scott Schrantz's Blog

They promised us a "big storm" was coming into the area this weekend, but we're still waiting for it. Yesterday we had flurries on and off, and a layer of flakes on the ground that you could politely call a "dusting", but no real snow yet. Is it too much to ask, to have one real snowstorm before New Year's?

I feel obligated to point out this article in the Nevada Appeal about the Ormsby House, but my heart just isn't in it. "We’re coming," say the owners. "Construction will be done by the end of 2009". I've heard it all before, and now I'm just tired of it. And what signs of their quick progress are to be seen?

Workers have installed new roofing and piping, fixed floors and ceilings and fireproofed the walls of one of the city’s most famous buildings. The escalator is being installed and dry wall is sitting in the skeleton of hotel rooms where it is ready to be hung.

Yeah, that's great. But that's the way the hotel was when I toured it in October, 2006. If the owners are really dedicated to getting it done by the end of 2009, they need to do one simple thing: get people in the building. Get work crews on site and start working. That building should be crawling with people every day. Plumbers, electricians, sheetrockers. The only way to make any progress is to actually work on it with more than the skeleton crew that you see haunting the place.

2009 is doable, it really is. But what they need to do is get 50 people in there on Monday working on it, and don't let them stop until they're done. Otherwise all this talk about being "committed to finishing the project" is just gas.

The Carson-Tahoe Quail park may not have any tenants yet, but that's not stopping them from improving access to the shopping center. Crews are on site right now extending Appion Way, at the south end of the center, to intersect with Carson Street.

Developers have more plans for this area, including more retail space and a Terrible's convenience store. Now, whether any of this comes to pass or the economy puts the brakes on all of it is yet to be seen. But they do seem to be going ahead with building the intersection.

Press release:

The Dangberg Home Ranch Historic Park, operated by the Nevada Division of State Parks in collaboration with Douglas County, invites the public to attend a celebration of the holidays. The event will feature an exhibit of antique toys, Christmas cards and decorations from the park's extensive collection. Visitors will enjoy hearing music played on the Dangberg's 1916 Knabe and Company grand piano.

Displayed exhibit items will include: a variety of stuffed animals, dolls, card games and other toys from the early decades of the 20th century, as well as board games, construction sets and other play items from the 1930s and 1940s. These items are examples of the childhood play from two generations of the Dangberg family.

"The park's collection of antique toys is a lot of fun," said Park Interpreter Mark Jensen. "We have Kewpie dolls, early Mickey Mouse toys, cast-iron trains, 'Tinker Toys,' board games from the 1910s such as 'Department Store' and 'Sailor Boy,' 'Lincoln Logs' and other and other toys that will make park visitors laugh, think and reminisce."

In addition to the toys and games, the park will also display a variety of historic Christmas cards, sent to the Dangberg family by notable figures in Carson Valley and Nevada's history, including other ranching families, Nevada governors and other politicians. Vintage ornaments, a silver Christmas tree and other holiday decorations will also be shown. In the tradition of hospitality established by the Dangberg family, cookies and hot beverages will be offered.

The exhibit will be open from 1:00 pm to 5:00 pm on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, December 12-15, 2008. Admission is $3.00 for adults and is free for children 12 and under. Visitors should dress in warm clothing. Information regarding the location of the park can be found at parks.nv.gov/hr.htm, or by calling 775-783-9417. Regular park tours will not be offered during this event.

I've been doing a lot of driving around at night, trying to get a cranky baby to fall asleep. And since it's the right time of year, there is plenty to look at while I'm driving. Here's a litany of Christmas lights, all from the Saratoga Springs area of Johnson Lane.

First the Downtowner Motor Inn, now the Frontier Motel might be foreclosed and sold at auction. What will we do without all our dumpy motels?

But even though I think the Downtowner should be burned and the earth it sits on salted, the Frontier Motel gets a pass just because of its sign.

Photo by Flickr user The Real Devil Doll

Work crews were on site Monday at the Mirastar gas station, in the parking lot of the Douglas County Wal*Mart. This gas station closed in August, part of a nation-wide shutdown of Mirastar locations, and has sat empty and roped off ever since. Now a crew has started dismantling the structure. They removed the gas pumps and set them aside, presumably to be trucked away to locations unknown, and they were also working on the roof, tearing down the decorative apron that surrounded the canopy.

I'm not sure what they're up to, if this is the beginning of a full-scale demolition of the gas station, or if Tesoro just wants to strip the property and reclaim some of the valuable items before they sell it. Because this is a good location for a gas station. Thousands of cars pass by it every day, on their way to Wal*Mart or Trader Joe's, or in the turn lane to get to Best buy and Old Navy and all that. I've had at least five or six occasions in the last few months where I wished it was open, usually when I was in town late and the Costco gas nearby, where I usually fill up, was closed. This Mirastar always had comparably low prices, but didn't charge debit fees like Arco does, or require membership like Costco. So I can see a low-price gas station doing very well here, and will be surprised if the whole place is just leveled, and not bought out by someone else.

After a three-month hiatus, No Safe Place is back on the air. And a good thing too, since the Carson City-based blogs can still be counted in single digits, so we need all we can get. Plus it's a good blog, plus he said, "I am going to write for me now." Well, good. That's what all the best blogs do. If you're writing out of some sense of obligation, it's going to show. Just write about what you want to write about, and if people don't want to read it, too bad for them.

The not-long-for-this-world Douglas Times has a profile of the new restaurant that opened in Gardnerville, in the space where Paradise Cafe used to be. It's called the Bravo Cafe, and they say business has been steady even though the economy is down, and even though Paradise Cafe failed in that same spot not too long ago. It's a tough location, in a tiny strip mall along Hwy 395, where the only conceivable foot traffic would be from the middle school nearby. But this is an outgrowth of a dessert catering business they've been running for a while, so at least they're not starting completely from scratch. Let's hope they can make a go of it.

The Governor's Mansion is looking very resplendent in its Christmas dress.