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A Sign that We Care

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A Sign that We Care

By Patsy Terrell

Tuesday, 10 June 2008

When you arrive in any community, you immediately form an opinion about it. One of the first impressions is how it looks. I'm not going to argue if that's right or wrong, it just is.

One of the main arteries by which people arrive in Hutchinson is K-61. That's one of the reasons the beautification project was focused there and we have the new fences and landscaping. I think that's all wonderful.

But, until someone forces The Hutchinson Mall to replace, remove or repair their sign that has been torn up for longer than I can even remember now, we cannot possibly make a good impression. I say "force"; because it's apparent the owners have no intention of fixing it without some outside pressure. It has been a skeleton of a sign for how long? Months? Years? I've lost track. This photo was taken May 29, 2008.

I'm guessing there is no ordinance about such a thing because no one imagined a business would leave their sign looking like this, metal hanging down blowing in the wind, for weeks that drag into months. Although I'm not a proponent of more rules than necessary, it's time for the city to take some action to force the issue.

We obey all kinds of rules in society - from traffic laws to how tall the grass in our lawns can be. If something like that were in my front yard or yours, the city would have sent us a letter saying to fix it or they would tear it down and bill us. If the mall is no longer interested in having a sign, which they must not be since it has looked like this for a long time, perhaps the city can apply the same rules to them.

Is this just yet another case of an absentee owner not having any respect for the community in which they reap the rewards of owning a business?

I don't know the answer. Someone enlighten me. What is the problem with getting that fixed in all this time? What needs to happen to get it fixed or get it gone?

Didn't your momma teach you to share? Share us.

Comments (7)

1. 06-10-2008 19:27

Patsy, I so agree! I just drove in today from Topeka - and that sign drives me crazy! I wonder if somehow getting this information to the the Hutch Mall office?? Too bad we can't forward "whatsuphutch.com" to their corporate offices??? I also agree with the new projects that the city has worked so hard at adding along the highway that has definitely improved the view. I would be willing to do anything also to "inform" whomever it takes, Mall corporate, offices, - city commissioners to see if they can pressure??? It really is sad that they have gotten by with it this long.

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2. 06-11-2008 11:53

Be careful what you ask for... I was told that the mall owners know about the sign problem and their solution is puttiing up an LED sign. I personally do not find that a better solution. Each time I head out to that part of town I fully expect to see a crew putting up the new sign. Maybe we can start an e-mail campaign to get the mall owners replace the sign with a similar sign to the previous one?

Written by KateV (Registered)

3. 06-12-2008 13:06

It's obvious the mall knows there's a problem. They've just chosen to not do anything about it, which I just don't understand.

Since writing this I have also heard they want to put up an LED sign. Can't we, as a community, decide we don't want something like that? Maybe the community does. I don't.

How does one affect these sorts of things?

Written by patsyterrell (Registered)

4. 06-12-2008 13:15

Patsy,

I don't know for sure what we can do but stuff like this is why we started this website. Use this comments section to voice opinions and drive other people here and eventually someone from the mall will see that we have a little (hopefully gets bigger) group of people that have a voice and will use it....?

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5. 06-16-2008 00:39

It's a great theory... I hope it works!

Written by patsyterrell (Registered)

6. 06-25-2008 11:19

Patsy,
I think the biggest problem we have with the mall is that the ownership is in Illinois. This isn't their community, they don't have to be embarrassed by the state of that mall - they just need to make a profit; or get some tax write-off if it doesn't make a profit. They could care less if half of the mall isn't retail space but commercial/industrial space.

I think I am usually quite hopeful about local citizens ability to affect change - I don't know how we do it with this case. I know that these issues are usually best addressed in the early stages - in the planning and zoning of a community. My uneducated opinion is that our local leadership is lacking in their vision when it comes zoning and planning for the community. (I said this was my UNEDUCATED opinion, before anyone jumps on me.)

Written by KateV (Registered)

7. 06-25-2008 14:26

Ok. Here's putting the power in your hands. I have an inside track being in the commercial real estate business but the link below is public information from the owner's website. Feel free to email as you like and see what response you get.

http://www.rubloffusa.com/rubloff/showProperty.do

Leasing agent is Tamie Osterloh, This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

My professional opinion is that malls are a drain on a small community like Hutch. The rent is extremely high for local "mom and pop" type businesses, especially considering that on top of rent, you also have to pay for your percentage of all the common areas. Rubloff made an effort to begin with - they are responsible for Goody's and some smaller leases but they are having difficulty attracting national and regional companies to the area. I agree they need to fix the outward appearance but the leasing of vacant space is caused by greater forces. It is really an economic development issue. We have lost over a dozen major middle class employers in the last 10 years. Skilled labor jobs like Master Machine, Consolidated, etc. Unfortunately we have been unable to replace those jobs which makes it harder to sustain any decent retail businesses. It has been said that industry follows retail and we are lucky to still have Lowe's and Home Depot and some good regional and national chain restaurants. Those types of amenities will attract employers. However, Hutchinson just isn't getting noticed (except for a rather pessimistic site Cody identified.) The more we can promote Hutchinson as a great place to live and work, the more we can attract employers. That is the challenge we face.

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