30 years ago – July 12, 1991
Tim Sabus thinks that Gunnell Hill is an ideal location for an 800-space parking lot. Three mining claims below the Masonic Cemetery can be reached without driving through residential areas, the location can be landscaped to hide the parking lot from view and, he says, the proposed lot fits well into Central City’s overall transportation plan. His firm, Tim Sabus & Company, plans to operate the lot from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. daily, with fees ranging from $2 a day for a car to a maximum of $20 for a large bus. Paid customers would be able to leave the lot at any time. In his proposal to Central City, Sabus offered to set aside at least 25% of the lot for employees working in town. If the demand is there, he said, he would like to have nothing but local customers. “If parking gets tight, the first to get squeezed out are the employees,” Sabus said. Even though there would be fewer turnovers from people working in town, he feels the benefits from a steady clientele outweigh any revenue loss. Ideally, Sabus would like to sell blocks of parking to employers throughout town and be able to just wave their employees on through the gate. Sabus would also like to hire a 100% local crew at the lot. He plans to have seven or eight full-time employees and some part-time help. “Local employees get to know the customers, and if they have to be on the job at 6:00 a.m.,” Sabus said, “it’s asking a lot for someone to commute.”
Paul and Joan Adams have been running their Mountain Blue Gem shop at 108 Lawrence Street for 11 years. The Adams will soon be moving their shop to Georgetown. They had been leasing the shop and everything was fine until gambling started to change things. Paul Adams said, “The only thing I’m disappointed in is the whole campaign to promote gambling was to help the merchants in the towns. The merchants were deceived into thinking that they would benefit. Now we’re all losing our leases. The sad thing is the change,” says Adams. “Once it changes, you can never bring it back. You just have to adjust.” The Adams couple are going to continue to stay in the retail business selling their handcrafted and authentic Indian jewelry. The shop in Georgetown is a bit smaller and they will have to limit their gift items and concentrate on jewelry. Adams crafts a lot of the jewelry he sells. He also repairs jewelry at a reasonable price and wants to continue to improve on his jewelry designs. Adams said, “We’ve had a lot of fun over the years here in Central City. People from all over the world have come back to the shop again. We’ve met a lot of super people up here.” Regular customers of Mountain Blue Gem will be sad that they are leaving, but can be happy in the fact that Georgetown is only a half an hour away.
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