Civic Center Takes Over Management of Downtown Parking Garage

Downtown Parking Garage As you may or may not have heard, the Veterans Memorial Civic & Convention Center of Lima/Allen County has taken over the management of the Parking Garage on Market Street. Our staff is very excited to take on this new endeavor and look forward to serving you. Over the next few months you will notice a few changes concerning the daily operations of the garage. At first, they will be subtle followed by more drastic/beneficial changes in June/early July. Please be patient during this time. It is our goal to operate the garage as an asset in the community and a place of convenience for one to park. In mid-June, the largest change will be the installation of credit card accepting machines in 1 exit lane allowing for you to pay by cash or credit. This will allow for a much more effective way to serve the local traffic. Rates Monthly parking passes are available for $40 or $25 for students. Discounts available for monthly or annual payment. Day rates range from $.50 to a max day rate of $3.50. Student rates per day are available, as well pre-purchase of validations for Downtown businesses to extend to their customers. Please contact the VMCC for information on any of the above. Rates for the parking garage have been set by the Joint Parking Commission. Effect on Downtown Lima Our goal is to make the parking garage a well-managed asset in our community. We are looking forward to the increased interaction with our Downtown Lima neighbors and encourage you to contact us with suggestions or concerns.

Lima Public Library Celebrates 50 Years in Downtown Location

From the Library:

Fifty years ago this Saturday the people of Allen County unwrapped one the best Christmas gifts ever:  a new Main Library Building at 650 West Market Street.  We’ve planned a wonderful anniversary party of this gift and you are invited to share in the festivities!  Musical entertainment on the main floor, special guest story times in youth services, cake and punch, prize drawings, and much more will take place. 

All fun, all free, all open to the public:

 10 AM—2 PM—Cake, Punch & Coffee (Memorial Book Room)

 10 AM—Celebrity Story Time with Lima Chief of Police Greg Garlock and Lima Senior Progressive Academy Students

 11 AM—Celebrity Story Time with Lima Mayor David Berger and Sgt. First Class Robert Shattuck

 11:30 AM—12:30 PM—Musical Variety Hour (Main Floor) · EZ & Company featuring Ed Zickafoos, Jim Boedicker & friends

 12 Noon—Celebrity Story Time with Holly Geaman, Lima’s Hometown Stations and Debbie Buettner Youth Services Librarian

 1 PM—Celebrity Story Time with · David Adam, 8th Ward Councilman, Professor, OSU Lima, Movie Critic; Steve Moser, Youth Services Librarian; Laura Betker, Lima’s Hometown Stations; and Jesse Lowe, 3rd Ward Councilman, President of Drugs Bring Death

1:30 PM—Christmas Carols:   A serenade of Christmas Carols by Library employees and friends

Unlike some anniversary invitations you may receive, we are not saying, “No Gifts Please.”  We’re actually rather hopeful for gifts and have attached our annual giving brochure for your consideration:  Giving Form

We look forward to kicking off the holiday season with you and celebrating 50 year at 650!

Some Great Deals for Shopping & Dining in Downtown Lima

See below for some great deals for shopping and dining in downtown Lima, Ohio!  Download the Downtown Lima Coupon Flyer June – August 2010

Included in the flyer are the following valuable coupons – perfect for an afternoon shopping in downtown Lima:

Nitza’s

Women’s clothing shoppe

Half Off All Jewelry!

300 N. Main Street, Lima, Ohio  
419‐227‐3877

www.nitzasinlima.com

 

The Meeting Place on Market

Gourmet coffee house & cafe

Buy 1 Smoothie, Get 1 Half Off!

220 W. Market Street, Lima, Ohio
 419‐222‐0985

www.meetingplaceonmarket.com

Sal’s Philly Steaks

Authentic Philly diner

10% Off Your Order!

312 N. Main Street, Lima, Ohio
419‐225‐7408

www.salsphillysteaks.com

Alter Ego Comics

Comic book & collectable store

25% off any regular priced

graphic novel

230 N. Main Street, Lima, Ohio

419‐224‐6700

www.alteregocomics.com

Premier Decorating

Party decorating store

$5 Off Any $50 Purchase!

116 N. West Street, Lima, Ohio
567‐712‐2030

www.premierdecoratingks.com

Natural Vibez Boutique

Jewelry and fashion shoppe 

Free Hair Flower with any Women’s Clothing Purchase!

106 E. Market Street, Lima, Ohio

419‐221‐1692

www.naturalvibez.net

Hofeller, Hiatt & Clark

Fine men’s clothing store

Semi-Annual Sale July 15 – Aug 31st

20-50% Off Everything!

237 N. Main St., Lima, Ohio

419‐228‐5621

www.hofellerhiattclark.com

David’s Finery

Gift Shoppe next to Kewpee downtown

10% Off Your Purchase!

115 N. Elizabeth Street, Lima, Ohio

419‐222‐7089

www.davidsfinery.com

Download the Downtown Lima Coupon Flyer June – August 2010

All Aboard!

Trains.  There has been a lot of talk recently about rail transportation since the new stimulus package includes nearly $8 billion for high-speed rail development.  Downtown Lima could really benefit from being connected to a high-speed rail network.  Since gas prices are likely to climb to 4, 5, 6 or more dollars a gallon in the next few years, rail will become a viable option for most of us.  However, I’m guarded in my praise of the Ohio Hub plan, which is the plan to develop a high-speed rail network throughout Ohio by roughly 2018.

Ohio Hub

Lima already has a wonderful station on the Northeast side of downtown.  It was recently renovated and now holds the City Water Department, who will vacate as soon as a rail stop is established.  The current Ohio Hub plan calls for a rail stop in downtown Lima.  This has the potential to bring countless jobs, development, and business to the Lima area, not to mention the social benefits of being connected with larger metropolitan areas.

The Ohio Hub plan is relatively simple.  First, the plans call for an initial starter-line (called the 3-C line) between Cleveland-Columbus-Cincinnati.  The “3-C” corridor is one of the largest, if not the largest, area in the country without passenger rail service.  After this initial line is established, feeder lines would appear, such as the Chicago-Fort Wayne-Lima-Columbus line.  The plan also utilizes existing tracks to start the standard rail service (79-mph), with additional new tracks for the high-speed trains (110-mph).  This is where I’ve grown concerned with the Ohio Hub plan.  The standard train speed of 79mph means riding the train will not likely save you much time over traveling in an automobile.  The 110-mph train does much better, but still doesn’t offer huge time savings.  I think these facts are going to be very difficult for the planned Ohio Hub to overcome in such a vastly lazy automobile society.  $8 dollar a gallon gas prices may make train travel an economic necessity in the near future, but you won’t likely be riding the train very often to save a whole lot of time.

 

 

California Planned High-Speed Rail

Now, take a glance at California’s High Speed Rail (http://www.cahighspeedrail.ca.gov).  California recently passed a measure on their ballot to build a comprehensive high-speed rail network to connect California’s largest cities.  Their high-speed rail will travel 220-mph, chopping travel time in half or more.  The system is modern, sleek, and portrays California as very high-tech and progressive – heck, it’s even got Arnold Schwarzenegger’s approval!  Then you look at Ohio’s planned system – large, heavy, slow, dirty Diesel engines, barely able to cross over the 100mph threshold.  Obviously, the California system costs much more than the Ohio Hub, but the California system covers much more territory, and will likely attract more ridership, which will probably boost other forms of public transportation, and cost less taxpayer dollars on highway and airport expansion in the long run.

Imagine being able to go from Lima to a Cleveland Indians game in less than an hour.  Imagine getting to downtown Chicago in a little over an hour?  Imagine what that would do for downtown businesses? It would allow for people in Chicago to work there, but live in Lima where our cost of living is incredibly less expensive and our education systems are far superior.  The same with businesses.  More businesses might likely locate in Lima because they would be just a short hop away from the big cities, but have a dedicated workforce pool at their fingertips.

I’m worried that the Ohio Hub plan doesn’t reach far enough to inspire our State, to inspire businesses to locate to a State that embraces technology, speed, and innovation.  Rather, we’re portraying ourselves as very conservative and slow to adapt to the pace of the rest of the world.  I still think the Ohio Hub plan is great – it’s going to save our rear ends when gas prices spike again, or we completely run out of fossil fuels.  However, I see the greater potential slipping by because we’re too afraid of initial dollar signs in tough economic times.

Welcome to the new Downtown Lima, Inc. Blog!

Welcome to the new website for Downtown Lima, Inc!  We have created this blog to highlight some of the various individuals and businesses within the downtown Lima area.  In the next few weeks, we will be introducing you to several individuals who will blog about their life and/or business downtown.  Each individual will start off their blog by giving some personal information, such as their favorite downtown hangout, their favorite music, and more.  We hope you visit our website frequently to read about the various faces and personalities of downtown Lima!

New Downtown Lima, Inc. Website