So, this board is nearly dead & I'm reaching. Some things to make Amarillo a better town? I don't care how stupid, far-fetched, good, or silly the ideas are, let's see what pops up!

Maybe a real minor league baseball team with some sort of MLB affiliation.

Make the loop a freeway instead of fighting the 18-wheelers through all the lights at downtown if you're going from Canyon to Dumas.

Build a dome. WTAMU indoor football, playoff games for the HS', conventions, stock shows, rodeo, etc. That pit/thing/stadium in Canyon is beyond it's novelty or usefulness.

United Airlines or Frontier flights to Denver. Flying to the West coast from AMA is rough on Southwest. And I like SWA!

burn it down and leave it to the coyotes

Move my old, wrinkled butt back there!

Maybe get rid of Dr. Goodhair the meteorologist at NBC (Pat Boone's look-alike) and replace him with something more pleasant on the eyes. I think that if you're going to wear that hair on air, you might as well wear leisure suits.

The Amarillo Gold Sox used to be a AA team associated with the NY Yankees. A lot of big names played in Amarillo during those days.

AAAAAAAAAAg - Air Force Aggie Architect & Administrator from Amarillo, Altus, Austin, Arabia, Arkansas, Africa, Seoul, & now Amman, Jordan '65, '69, '73
Behavior is a mirror in which everyone shows his image - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

the minor league affiliation...i think the rangers would do well with a A-level team in Amarillo.

****************************

WAR EAGLE!
GIG 'EM!
****************************

I saw yesterday when I flew in that there is a SWA Denver flight. Still, I'd like to see a United 3 or 2-a-day.

1) Convince T-Boone that because of global cooling the winter this year is going to be the norm.
2) Because of above convincing, artificial mountains will be built in order to lure the Dallas/Ft. Worth crowd to Ski the panhandle.
3) Open a construction company that specializes in artificial mountains.
4) Profit!

Revitalize downtown Amarillo.

When Western Plaza and Civic Circle area need revitalization, Polk Street should come first.
Pave it ala European cities and make a pedestrian mall. Taylor and Tyler and true alleyways make Polk a perfect candidate for a pedestrian revitalization effort!!

Make it into a BBQ mecca ala Lockhart, or Elgin (sausage) - Jimmy Dean started in Plainview... For heaven's sake if Dalhart can do it, so can Amarillo...

Revitalize the old Route 66 Concept. Old NE 8th (Amarillo Blvd) used to have more motels per mile than anyplace in the country. Everyone going coast to coast used Route 66... Now I-40 zipps people through town and they don't get a chance to see much except along the highway...

Build on its Western Heritage - rebuild "Old Tascosa" downtown ala OKC/Bricktown, Guthrie, OK (orig capitol and major Masonic Hq), Franklin, TN (music and antiques) - Again, if Dalhart can do it, so can Amarillo!! Make it a "Western Branson"!!

Make it a music capital. Amarillo lies between Lubbock, Clovis and Oklahoma. Folks like Buddy Holly and the Crickets, Roy Orbison, Buddy Knox, Waylon Jennings, Sonny West, Jimmy Gilmer and the Fireballs, Charlie Phillips, Jimmy Bowen, Johnny Duncan, Carolyn Hester, Chita Rivera, Tommy Roe and many others recorded. These artists created the "Clovis Sound," that is known and still sought to be reproduced worldwide today. Terry Stafford (a HS buddy of mine at Palo Duro) wrote and was first to record "Amarillo By Mornin'" the huge hit for George Strait. Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys played every Friday nite at the Clover Club on NE 8th before going to Cain's in Tulsa for Saturday nite. Seems to me "most" of today's current "country stars" are Okies...

With the world's largest cattle auction/stockyards, etc., why not have a Billy Bob's or Gilly's clone? The Big Texan has moved once - move it to the revitalized downtown pedestrian old Tascosa lookalike or the new "stockyards" revitalized... If Shreveport can do it, Amarillo certainly can!
with the E-way system so near (and through) downtown - the transportation system is already in place.

At one time Amarillo on Thursday nite meant "professional wrestling"... Dory Funk, Lou Thez, Gorgeous George, Tommy Martin, etc., etc., - all of whom are now in Wrestling Hall of Fame - were forerunners of what is now the WWF... but the World's Championship Belt resided in Amarillo more often than not - and was won or lost in Amarillo more often than not...

Amarillo used to be the site of the annual Drag Racing Nationals because it was midway between the coasts and because of Route66-I-40.

Speaking of "drags" - from Twings on North Fillmore, through downtown via Farris's Dairy Queen and 10th/11th at Tyler (Double Dip) to Civic Center and Dino's Drive-in (next to Brent's) used to be a real nice place for businesses to grow and be seen. Now it seems to be just "old"... or parking lots... can't imagine how parking got to be more important than business... Oh, I forgot - the "city" decided to put parking meters "everywhere" and drove everyone out of downtown... and... (yeah, I know - when Amarillo High moved out of downtown and jumped over Tascosa to the "promised land" - downtown kinda dried up... Real shortsighted of everyone but the AHS alums and their big $$... - just had to - heh heh...)...

How about booming West Texas State a whole lot? WT is a gem with a great historical culture. Try to convince A&M College Station to put an adjunct Vet School at WT to thwart Tech in its continuing bid for a separate Vet School for the area. WT already has much of the capability and facilities - it just needs a boost and we could keep it all within the A&M family.

How about Palo Duro Canyon? Quiet and unassuming, it is the second largest canyon system in the U.S. It's lower tributaries could become another Ufala/Toledo Bend/Sam Rayburn/Texhoma - yeah, I know - recreational purposes only because of gypsum and salt - so what? With WATER, retirement communities and development would flourish!! ...and WATER is the resource of the future - not oil!! (just ask San Antonio...). Build up Meredith and Alibates... If Meridith wasn't sucked dry by downstate Midland, etc., it would be another Lake Powell(AZ)!! ...and just as nice!!

You know that Ron White (of the Blue Collar Comedy Tour) is from Fritch?? ...get him and his buddies Jeff Foxworthy, Bill Engvalls (another Texan), and Larry the Cable Guy (from Nebraska) to visit regularly - make Amarillo another Branson!! ...Git 'er Done!!
Did I mention a "Western Branson" above...??

How about making AC an adjunct to WT which would make it a part of the A&M system?? Why not?? If Blinn can do it, so can AC...

Do something about Dick Bivins Stadium... there have been a bunch of threads about HS stadiums downstate such as in Plano and Cypress-Fairbanks, etc... I see no reason why Dick Bivins can't be upgraded to not only serve local HS's but playoff's etc., - and WT Buffalo Stadium as well... There was a time when WT football was as big (or bigger) than Tech and they beat them regularly and often...

Personally, I cannot understand why when a HS geographic area gets 1,500 students or so, Amarillo has to build another HS. The way Plano, Bryan, Converse-Judson, etc., got to be such powerhouses was because they let their HS's approach 3,000 or more students. I realize the danger - but being in a 4-AAAA situation when it was the biggest league and now the state has 5-AAAAA and "the big dogs" have taken all the lime light.

Beat the hell out of Lubbock. No offense Lubbock, but Amarillo was first until they opened Tech and later closed Amarillo AFB. Amarillo is gradually gaining and will surpass Lubbock once again - probably in this census... Hallelujah!! I like cotton and all that - but I like ranching, wheat, and WT so much better!! Besides, Lubbock is on the edge of the Caprock and about to fall off the Panhandle, while Amarillo is the absolute center geographically, from a transportation point of view and everything else important that I can think of...

Amarillo is simply lanquishing because it was a staunchly conservative Republican stronghold and LBJ couldn't stand it so during his presidency he purposely tried to kill the economy of Amarillo, Waco, Big Spring, etc., etc., althewhile showing the rest of the country how he could "cut at home in Texas" and they should do likewise... talk about politics!!!

Just a few thoughts...

Gig 'em...

AAAAAAAAAAg - Air Force Aggie Architect & Administrator from Amarillo, Altus, Austin, Arabia, Arkansas, Africa, Seoul, & now Amman, Jordan '65, '69, '73
Behavior is a mirror in which everyone shows his image - Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

[This message has been edited by Aggie1 (edited 2/23/2010 10:38a).]

[This message has been edited by Aggie1 (edited 2/23/2010 12:43p).]

I think this is some good thinking! I like what OKC has done with Bricktown in just a little bit of time. It wasn't that long ago when that was a detestable area. It's now a pretty fun place to be! And what a cool little stadium with hotels all around.

Music - I think there are a lot of well-known TX country groups that probably blow right through on their way to Denver, Steamboat, etc that have no incentive to stop & play a gig in AMA. A nice little music row in a revitalized part of town would be sweet to host some of these groups.

Food - I bet you could really run with the BBQ idea. Or maybe a steak place. I mean, we're surrounded by some of the best beef the world can consume yet I don't see the food network falling over themselves to get out here & marvel at how people in Amarillo have figured it out & gotten it right. Something that could match the Harris Ranch (out on I-5 in California - put it on your bucket list) or maybe a huge Steak King Capital grill-off where the best of the best come out here where their products come from & battle it out.

There's a BUNCH of wheat grown out here in the upper panhandle. How about some local bakeries with some local ingredients marketing that! Whoa!!

Stockyards - I hate to refer to OKC again, but they've always had a bit of a tourist draw to their stockyards. Western art, tack shops, Western Wear shops, some restaurants. Amarillo has none of that. Granted, OKC's stockyards is a tad bigger than AMA, but AMA is the 2nd biggest in the US. I hate that the best tack you can buy around here is at Tractor Supply. We should have Joe Cavender come out of East TX swatting mosquitos away this summer & have him building the biggest most ridiculous Western wear store near the stockyards and throw up some galleries near there & get a Colorado Saddlery or Weaver Leather to put a factory outlet store right up next to it. So much potential there, EXPLOIT!!!

WT - I heard a rumor that T.Boone made 'em take his name off the building. Don't know if that's true or not, but I think they need to get better. Help foot the bill for half of a sweet stadium closer to Amarillo. Call T.Boone, see if he'll help. We can get him in a pissing contest with Jerryland down in Arlington over whose stadium kicks more @ss! HA! A&M - College Station isn't who to bark at for help, it's the Board of Regents. They need to fight harder than Tarleton, A&M Commerce, etc to get that school pulled into a respectable place. That will probably take some tax $$. Oh & let's knock down a HS in Amarillo, make a huge jumbo HS that will gain some athletic respect with the rest of the state.

Oh, and once the stadium is in place, how about some big draws? Yes, Ron White is from Fritch. I like the idea of getting him back around and playing some shows! The Dalhart & Guymon rodeo aren't what they used to be. Let's put together a big rodeo around here that means something. Something in October or November with some real $$ to it that would be somewhat of a qualifier for those cowboys that are on the bubble of getting into the NFR in early December! Have PBR kick off a rodeo week with one of their tour stops. So much potential.

These are ideas that should be brought to the chamber of commerce or one of the downtown reviatilization firms.

I don't really think downtown will be able to make a comeback as far as people living downtown. I know there are contractors trying to make warehouse apartment/condos, but until it is a hassal to drive from outside of downtown I don't see a large population moving to the center. Without a large population in downtown the nightlife type businesses will not be supported, i.e. Cafe Marizon closing at 2 or 3 because there is not enough buisness to justify staying open for dinner.

It will be interesting to see how the new courtyard mariot will do in the Fisk building. If it can take off I think maybe more eatery, bar type places may emerge.

But once again, it takes me 10 minutes to drive from my house in west Amarillo to my job in downtown Amarillo. I am a young proffesional (27) without any kids and have absolutley no desire to live downtown. I think this is the market they will have to attract and as of now are not.

[This message has been edited by dhharder (edited 2/24/2010 9:11a).]

They are working on the downtown part. The problem is, it's very hard to get things done. There's a real sense of wanting the government to leave people alone. That includes various things that would really be helpful to downtown, but people don't want it done.

A sign ordinance would be nice, too. The billboards and business signs here are ridiculous. But, again, it has to do with not wanting the government involved at all.

There is a real resistance here to any attempts by the city to do much. Just look around. There are basically no architectural standards for buildings. No landscaping requirements. You want to put that metal building right here and open up your "hair salon," go right ahead. Oh, Country Barn, you want to use a big digital screen as your sign out front that seems like it's as big as the screen in DKR Memorial Stadium? Please do so.

[This message has been edited by H6RBW (edited 3/16/2010 10:56a).]

quote:

---

The Amarillo Gold Sox used to be a AA team associated with the NY Yankees.

---

Thought it was The Padres. I think Tony Gwynn played there.

Padres did not exist then. It was definitely the Yankees. Players like Joe Pepitone honed their skills and were good in Amarillo before going on to New Yawk...

I have always felt we needed to revitalize downtown. Close it to vehicular traffic and build several large parking garages. Build some multi-unit housing in some of the existing structures and re-establish the social life. When AHS burned and was moved out to Bell, Downtown no longer had a reason to be anything but a business corridor. Then when the Base closed, so did a great majority of the business. We need to refocus what the town is about. I remember when you could find Amarillo Lapel pins, the ones with the boots, all over the country. All I ever hear now is..."Amarillo?...I drove through their once..." Why not reinvent Amarillo as the Entertainment Venue of the MidWest? Concerts on the lawn every possible night. Street carnivals, etc. Then, a Minor League team would work...

G-2 & K-2 '98

I remember seeing Pepitone play for the Gold Socks. Didn't the Amarillo Giants come along after that?

leachfan and aggie1,

The Gold Sox were at times an affliate of both the Padres (late 70s-early 80s) and the Yankees (early 60s).

quote:

---

How about making AC an adjunct to WT which would make it a part of the A&M system?? Why not?? If Blinn can do it, so can AC...

---

Why would you bring AC down to WT's level?

quote:

---

A sign ordinance would be nice, too.

---

I kind of like the signs:

Marsh is a looney toon.

I liked the signs less when I was told that Marsh owns a lot of cheap rental property and his tenants are the ones who have to deal with the signs in their yard.

In a thread about Amarillo and the downtown area, I must say that Amarillo lost a great, great man and promoter of Amarillo RIP, Joe Ted Davidson, dear friend. And, he was a dear friend.