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CITY PAGES
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two. Retailers, whose businesses operate
between ten in the morning and five in the
afternoon, not only have no use for the bar
scene downtown, but they really resent
coming to work in the morning and finding
that people have been urinating in their
dc >rway, or that there are a tot of empty
cans and bottles that they have to clean up.
Those people find the other Athens’ to be a
real imposition.'
Encore's John Widmer, though, who was
once called downtown by police at 2:30 am
after someone hurled a bottle at his store’s
front window, setting off his alarm, acknowl
edges the problems but doesn’t consider
them overly significant. “People drink too
much and throw up. or get too rowdy. Our
problem has been mainly getting rid of the
trash,” he says “During the day it’s com
pletely different; it’s kind of Jekyll and Hyde-
like, though I don’t think the nighttime
people are that out of control. It’s just a dif
ferent scene at night ’
Then there are those who believe the
continued popularity of the music scene not
only keeps the clubs in business but has
played a major role in the downtown area's
overall success. Athens continues to attract
national attention with bands such as
Widespread Panic. Juciier. Macha. The Star
Room Boys. Olivia Tremor Control and many
others. Scene supporters say this
helps keep money coming in from
tourists and, of course, from stu
dents, no matter what time of day.
“It’s huge It’s been the driving
factor to rehab buildings and
bring downtown back to life,"
says Howard Scott. Scott, an
Athens attorney, owns commer
cial and residential rental prop
erty downtown and has been a
key figure in organizing the
AthFest downtown summer music
festival since it began in 1997.
Scott believes after-hours activity
is critical to daytime business
because “it brings people down
who shop retail They (daytime
retailers) might not see It, but if
you’re used to coming downtown
for one thing, you’ll get in the
habit of coming for other things—you notice
that there’s a dress shop or a record store or
whatever. There are a lot of intangible bene
fits You don’t see a direct connection, but I
think it’s there "
John Widmer agrees “Most of us down
town do a lot of student business," he says.
“Absolutely. They come here during the day
and at night. And they’re all really proud of
downtown You can tell they’re enthusiastic
about it.”
That enthusiasm has helped make down
town what it is today. But, amidst all the suc
cess, why are some bars and clubs closing
or barely hanging on? Meanwhile, are forces
aligning to turn downtown into a giant strip
mall, causing, perhaps, the end of the down
town world as we know It? -.To be con
tinued. (Brad Aaron)
WELL-CONNECTED
CONNECTOR LIVES
Concerned citizens have until Thursday,
January 20, to submit comments regarding
the removal of the East-West Connector
Project from the Athens-Clarke-Oconee
Regional Transportation Study (ACORTS)
Twenty Year Transportation Plan.
The federally funded, 13.1-mite, two lane
road would run from the Atlanta Highway
northeast near Bogart tu Hull Road near the
Athens-Clarke/Madison county line. The con
nector has been widely criticized for contra
dicting ACCs land use plan and opening the
door for development in rural areas,
including wetlands Last July, ti.-ACC
Commission voted unanimously to remove
the project from the 20-year transportation
plan.
The ACORTS Planning Committee will col
lect public comment sheets through the
20th, before making its final decision on
March 8 at a meeting to be held at the
Oconee County Courthouse Even If the con
nector is removed, it will be reconsidered by
ACORTS in 2002.
Comment sheets must be received no
later than Thursday. Jan. 20 at the ACC
Planning Department, 120 West Dougherty
Street. Sheets are available from the
Planning Department and on the Friends of
Rve Points web site at ftvepts.com (Brad
.Aaron)
GIANT CELERY
STALKS ROGERS
To protest the treatment of factory
farmed chickens served at Kenny Rogers’
restaurant chain, Kenny Rogers’ Roasters
(KRR), a mascot from People for the Ethical
Treatment of Animals (FETA) followed the
singer as he toured Honda last month. The
mascot, a 7-foot-tall bright green “celery
stalk.” carried a sign that read “Kenny Kills
Chickens" to over half a dozen of Rogers’
shows.
The demonstration is the latest in PETA’s
three year campaign, which got worldwide
coverage in 1997 when activists dressed in
chicken suit? gathered outside the gates of
Rogers' Oglethorpe County estate on the day
of his fifth wedding. Rogers, who sold his
multi-million dollar Beaver Dam Farms ranch
at auction last year, has one Roasters restau
rant in Athens, on West Broad Street.
PETA claims chickens raised by Tyson
Foods for Rogers’ restaurants “suffer painful
debeaking without anesthesia. To increase
profits, factory farmers commonly geneti
cally manipulate birds and feed them growth
hormones, which often cripple them.
Smothering, heart attacks from stress and
diseases from overcrowding are also
common."
In a 1997 letter to PETA, Rogers’ brother
Randy Rogers, vice president of public rela
tions for the chain wrote: "Tyson produces
and processes its chickens in the same
manner that 98% of all chickens in United
States are produced and processed." PETA's
response to KRR charged them with
“accepting cruelty as the norm."
PETA says Rogers and » K e Ft Lauderdale-
based Roasters company have ignored its
complaints concerning treatment of the ani
mals since KRR broke off talks with PETA in
late 1997. The group asked Rogers to visit
his chicken supply houses personally, but
received no response.
“We’re hoping it won’t be as easy for
Start 2000
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Kenny to turn a blind eye to a giant ‘celery
stalk’ as it has been for him to ignore animal
cruelty.’ says PETA president and co
founder, Ingrid Newkirk With over 600,000
members, PETA is the world’s largest animal
rights organization. It is opposed to the use
of animate few food, clothing and experimen
tation. The group is based in Norfolk,
Virginia. (Brad Aaron)
Champagne corks were popping last
week in Five Points and it wasn't some
delayed Y2K celebration Mike Joyce, owner
of Five Points’ Strand hair salon was jumping
lor joy to see the ceiling-high cinder block
wall that had blocked the view from his
western window and prevented Joyce any
access to that side of his building lor over
six years finally come tumbling down.
According to Joyce, the wall went up over
Labor Day weekend in 1993. It was con
structed by Rick Harris, former owner of the
Lighthouse restaurant, as an enclosure for
the restaurant's outdoor patio. Harris and
Joyce have spent the past six years con
testing over the wall before assorted plan
ning. building, and zoning commissions
within the Athens-Clarke County
government.
Now that new restaurateurs
have signed-on to the space,
Joyce is not the only one excited
about the renovations taking
place in the Five Points building
Partners Hugh Acheson. Melissa
Clegg and J. Zameger plan to open
“Five and Ten," a “comfortable
neighborhood restaurant where
people can walk right from their
homes." as Zameger describes
the new business, slated to open
in early March.
Acheson, Clegg and Zameger
each have successful track
records in the restaurant busi
ness Clegg and Zameger were
both partners In the Last Resort
Grill and the East-West Bistro
(which they later sold) and Zameger has
recently returned to Athens after a two year
run as the restaurants manager for the
world-renowned Westem-St. Francis Hotel in
San Francisco.
“I was fortunate to be able to go to
another level of culinary and wine knowl
edge," he says ,of his experience in San
Francisco, a city considered by many to be a
culinary mecca.
Acheson also spent time honing his skills
in San Francisco. He worked as the sous chef
under Gary Denko, a recent recipient of that
city’s esteemed “Chef of the Year" award,
before moving to Athens four years ago to
become the head chef at the Last Resort.
“I guess the menu can be called
‘Continental American’ which means any
thing goes." Acheson says of the menu he
has designed for the new restaurant “It will
be simple and fresh." Five and Ten plans to
draw many ingredients from local farmers
and vendors. “We already have a farmer
planting for us." explains Clegg. "The menu
will reflect the market even on a daily basis.
The patio, which was completely
removed along with the controversial wall
last week, will be enclosed by French doors
that open out onto the street. “We want to
incorporate the ambiance and the activity of
the neighborhood," says Clegg. As for the
construction of the new patio, Joyce feels
very confident that he will be satisfied with
his new neighbor's plan. “Melissa has been
very accommodating and sympathetic to ray
plight," he says. “We’re meeting to discuss
how far back she's going to rebuild."
(Melissa Link)
FROM LIGHTHOUSE
TO FIVE AND TEN
JANUARY 19, 2000
