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View Winners → Old Town Report (10/12/17 Issue)
Monrovia Weekly Oct 16, 2017
Dr. Goh. – Courtesy photo
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Old Town Monrovia. – Photo courtesy / Flickr
By Pam Fitzpatrick
Well, I’m just full of information this week; don’t even know where to start! Let’s try one of our favorite subjects: pedestrian safety in Old Town. Tuesday’s MOTAB (Monrovia Old Town Advisory Board) meeting at City Hall gave us reports on the Flag Stand trial period. If you remember, the flag stands in the 500 block were designed and engineered by one of our fellow merchants, Soren Loft, co-owner of Sunday’s Old Town Bistro. The yellow flags have been used to help pedestrian visibility when crossing the street. While the overall assessment is very positive, it’s clear we need enhanced crosswalk visibility and the city will be working on that and other improvements very soon.
The other Old Town safety issue involves those skateboarders and bicyclists who refuse to obey the signs restricting them from riding on the sidewalks. Our new Police-Chief-To-Be, Captain Alan Sanvictores, has promised increased patrols, warnings, and tickets (when all else fails). The most impressive part of his plan involves education at the high school level, and I think that’s the real key here.
We had a Filming Report from our newest Old Town Film Liaison, Ted Goldbeck from Studio Movie Grill.
Ted says all in all last Friday’s filming went well with a few exceptions. I did ask if Old Town would be allowing Friday filmings, which have been off limits for quite a while, or if last week’s venture was an anomaly. Ted says, “on a case by case basis.” We’ll see how that works….
Speaking of Studio Movie Grill, Ted also announced that very soon the work on the upgraded seating would begin. By April 1st, 2018, the whole re-do (if on schedule) will be open to the public: bar, grill and all. If you want a look at the Southern California menu for Studio Movie Grill, check out www.studiomoviegrill.com. Sounds exciting!”
And – for those of us who look down while we’re walking — happy news: the City is adding more workers to the Old Town maintenance team. Johnny Ogden has been doing a great job for years, but with more and more visitors, we need more and more resources. There will soon be a team of three keeping us neat and tidy, and, yes, pressure washing our sidewalks (with the help of Athens Services). Yay team! Johnny, thank you so much for keeping us clean. And …. Athens promises to watch that pressure washer so the water doesn’t go into the businesses again!
OK, lots more, but only a little more space available to me…. Don’t forget Taste of Old Town this Sunday, Oct. 15th! Tickets are $50 presale (at The Dollmakers’ Kattywompus and the Community Center), and $60 on the day of. You can also pre-buy from your local Monrovia Kiwanian. Still no details on the New Year’s Eve celebration on Myrtle, but we’re promised details by the November meeting, so stay tuned. One more thing: this year’s Halloween event will be, as always, held on October 31st, and will be aptly named “Halloween Spooktacular.” Lots more to come for next week…
