Lafayette Square Plans More Store Openings

Jim Tanniehill

Photo by Linda Karn
(posted Oct 1)

Amanda Royalty, mall leasing / marketing director, told Lafayette Square Area Coalition members at their September 30 meeting that Shopper's World plans to open its11th store in November. She said it is a cut between J. C. Penney and Value City Department Store. The price point is a little below Penney's, while the quality of clothing is above Value City. This will be the first store to open in the Midwest. She also discussed the Xscape Entertainment Center that includes a gourmet banquet, party room, sports bar, amusement rides, mini bowling, go karts, bumper cars, glow golf, laser tag, and arcade games.

The mall just celebrated the grand opening of tri-brand kiosk Pretzelmaker, Great American Cookie, and Maggie Moo's. Other mall features include free WiFi service. LSAC President Mary Clark encouraged everyone to visit and walk the mall. She stressed the importance of businesses supporting each other during these economic times. She thinks that Olive Garden would not have closed its doors at 38th Street and Moller Road if the coalition would have shown the new regional manager that it is a solid group of businesses.

Mayor's liason Mary Chalmers said 38th Street road improvements will not happen until 2011 because of financial issues and the Accelerate 465 project. She recommended a beautification committee be formed to develop plans for gateway entrances. She suggested involving the surrounding neighborhoods to solicit their opinions about trees, banners, and flags. Proposed sidewalks will run from Lafayette Road to High School Road.

The Lafayette Square Area Coalition is hosting a parade on October 18 from Lafayette Square to Wal-Mart. The parade starts at 10 am. IMPD Reserve Units and Neighborhood Resource Officer Matt Grimes and his unit will volunteer for traffic control.

Jim Tanniehill attended the meeting to promote his proposed "Take Down Crime" program by offering youth from 4th to 8th grade to participate in the Tanniehill Wrestling Academy. The program will first be offered to charter schools. He said many of the charter schools do not offer athletic programs. Tanniehill applied for a Mayor's Crime Prevention grant that is needed to kickoff the program. The grant will help finance tournaments and equipment.

Tanniehill's real mission is to encourage academics through wrestling. He hopes to reverse the downward trend in ISTEP performance. He said studies show that ISTEP scores fall among students within the fourth to eighth grade level.

Tanniehill wants to give back to the community by offering his 47 years of wrestling experience and skills to the youth. His wrestling program will offer kids who are not able to play basketball, soccer or other popular sports an opportunity to compete in sports . Wrestling allows each child to be compete by weight, level and age.