Speaking of weather, if my memory serves me, it seems that when we have a bitterly cold winter, it’s followed by a scorching summer. We really haven’t had a terribly hot one in some years, so I guess it may be our turn this year.
Most of my morning was spent working on and off with the Globe Gazette to create a large ad being placed in Friday’s paper regarding the First Anniversary and public open house at Prairie Place on 1st which I will be helping to host this Saturday from 1:00 – 3:00 pm. Anyone in the general public who’s 55+ years old is welcome to attend. Some of the residents are going to have their units open for those interested so to see how they appear when fully furnished. If the weather is cooperative, I’m hoping for a good turnout. There are only 13 units left to be sold, so I’m hoping those that’ve been “circling” the complex will finally break their deliberations and come to the conclusion that it’s the best place to be while enjoying their golden years.
I’ve been encouraging many prospects to sit down and compare their on-going expenses where they’re now living to what they would be if they were living at Prairie Place on 1st. It’s a no brainer when considering the upkeep of a home, along with exterior maintenance and lawn care, while not forgetting snow removal. Those units are exceptionally energy efficient to where their gas and electric bills are averaging around $65.00 – $75.00 per month. I’m sure nearly everyone of you had an eye opener when looking at this past month’s Alliant Energy bill. I personally have not had one that high in a number of years simply because of their rate increases that were coupled with the bitter cold we experienced over that 30 day period.
One of my clients was good enough to bring an 1895 Cerro Gordo County plat book to my office this morning for me to read thru until I had to return it later this afternoon. I was nearly mesmerized by the information contained. The more I filtered thru those richly illustrated pages, the more I realized how much our County’s population along with the expansion of our City and Towns have changed. I wished I had more time to review it and take more photos, but alas the moment arrived when I had to hand it back to its owner. I said to my client before leaving, “You make sure you take very good care of that book because it’s a masterpiece of our County’s history.”
One of the photos I took was of a page showing the east half of our City at the time which included a section of our Historic Downtown. In the above photo, I’ve placed a red arrow showing where my office building is located. As I had suspected, the three store fronts of Italianate design which includes mine, were likely those of the first group built in my block prior to 1895.
Wouldn’t it be fun to travel back to 1895 and spend a day or two in our fair City? Because of all the changes that’ve been made since then, I’m afraid many wouldn’t recognize what street they were on. Keep in mind, nearly all the street names have been changed since that 1895 Plat book was published. I’m exceptionally thankful my client was good enough to borrow it to me for a day so I could share with you all just a portion of that photo from that book.
