Blogger’s Note: Before I get into the details of this post I want to acknowledge that the idea came from my friend and fellow Smiths Grove resident, church member and friend, Gail. Her simple off hand statement about the state of development in our little town helped me make a mental connection I hadn’t made before. Thank you Gail. Your observation inspired me and your buckeye candies have always made me smile.
As I’ve documented many times in this blog I really love the small town where I live. You can leave things outside and they are still there when you go for them again. You can walk around the perimeter in about an hour.
There’s a library, a bank, a pharmacy, a gym, a Dollar Store, three major fast food chain restaurants, three locally owned restaurants, a walk-up window service ice cream stand, a veterinarian’s office, a grocery store, a US post office, a hardware store, two tax accounting offices, two dentist offices, a coin operated car wash, a small locally owned hotel, a truck stop, two antique shops, a bed and breakfast in a historic home, an elementary school, a cemetery and 6 churches all within a square mile area of my house.
“The Grove” is a combination of a quaint little town and a busy stop off point along a major interstate highway (I-65). Our town’s exit, 38, is just about half way between Louisville and Nashville. The entire distance of the highway goes from just south of Gary, Indiana to Mobile, Alabama.
The town has developed a quite a bit since I’ve moved here. It’s not been a “booming” development. It’s changed gradually; a little at a time. But over the last 9 years I can’t remember a time when there was so much new building going on at the same time.
Right now there are 3 building projects going on in town at the same time. One is an expansion project and the other two are constructions of two entirely new buildings. All three of them will be of benefit to me in some way.
The expansion is happening at the local McDonald’s restaurant. They are enlarging the lobby area at the front of the building.
In the rear of the building they are making a single drive thru a double lane. This will make it easier to occasionally grab something quick for breakfast, or in Paula’s case just a cup of coffee, without a long wait, before hitting the interstate on the way to work.
About a block away from the McDonald’s on the other side of the main road is the site of the future home of Dr. Roger Thomas, Veterinarian Clinic. Presently their office is only ½ mile from my house. It’s where I take my dogs when they have health issues. When the new office opens it will mean either a short car ride or a 2 mile round trip walk to get Angel or Dory there. The walk won’t be a problem because they both love getting out on their leash.
The construction as pictured here doesn’t really give very much information about the new office except that it’s going to be bigger than their current office. We’ll have to see if it’s going to be better for us.
The third construction area is the most needed in our little town. It’s a new public library. The new facility will be a couple of blocks closer to my house. It’s literally on my side of the railroad tracks.
I don’t know any specifics about the new building. I have watched the progress of the construction almost from the beginning. The site is along the route I walked my dogs over the course of the summer. It’s made great strides. I don’t know when it will be completed or the scheduled opening date; but it will probably be early next year. The picture was taken just a few days ago.
I will go to this new library just as often as or perhaps even more often than I do the current facility now. But my real goal is to perform ventriloquist show there.
So there you have the 3 construction projects currently going on in Smiths Grove. For the size of the town that level of activity is pretty impressive. And as I mentioned before they will all affect my lifestyle in one way or another.
While I was aware of the projects I didn’t realize their relevance to me until last Friday night. That was when that was brought to my attention by our friend, Gail, on the way to a local theater production. Thanks again Gail. It reminds me just how much the life of this small town is intertwined with mine…and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
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