Gays Mills

Editor,

Just in case you were confused, the new shopping center north of town is the "Central Business District" as the new signage proclaims.  Not to be confused with the buildings to the south located at the cross roads of two highways, with a classic main street, and places to get a beer, a bite to eat, select some choice steaks, buy flowers for your sweetie, get the dog a check-up, shop for used clothing or furniture, or grab some great multi-grain bread.

I mean, come on!  With all the tax payer and investor money put into this project, couldn't there have been a better name selected?  How about Gays Grove? Soldiers Mills? New Town Plaza? Or simply North Gays Mills?

Instead we get "Central Business District".  Is there a concern that people may be confused?  Perhaps the confusion may be whether drivers are still on the Madison belt-line or in the Kickapoo Valley. What it does leave me wondering is whether we are getting a Star Bucks or Caribou Coffee house and will there be a Gap or Ralph Loren clothing outlet?  

To be serious, the new mall is a done deal and I do wish the new businesses the best of luck and I will be one of the first to spend my dollars if they offer products and services that I need (Gosh a good hardware store would be nice). I do however question the marketing and green/sustainability washing that has gone on and wonder why the buildings were not built to take advantage of passive solar; how energy efficient they are, what certifications do they meet, and whether they have been tested; and where all the windmills and solar panels are (I know there are some on the townhouses but that's not much). A building, business, and community rests on a good foundation. If you want to be sustainable then insulating the outside of the foundations would have been a good start.

               -Dan Johnson