Batavia mayor: Things not rosy, but will get better

A picture of a Wilson Street street sign flashed on the screen.

"All the problems on Wall Street are reaching Wilson Street," said Batavia Mayor Jeffrey Schielke, beginning his annual "State of the City" address to the Batavia Chamber of Commerce Tuesday morning.

"It's not a real nice story we are going to tell you at the beginning."

But there would be good news by the end, he promised.

He noted the closure of the big Wickes furniture store, and the more recent closings of Linens N' Things and Circuit City, all in shopping centers off Randall Road - but said the city's economic development office has received inquiries about all three sites. And the Bennigan's Restaurant may be resurrected, he said, as the chain is reorganizing its finances and reopening some restaurants.

Downtown, the city has had people interested in opening bars or restaurants in the former Rachielle's Pharmacy and Pumpkin Patch clothing stores on Wilson, and in the El Taco Grande building on River Street. But Wall Street woes are affecting those proposals, he said, as the would-be owners have had trouble getting lines of credit.

"We just need for the world and the market to turn," he said.

He noted that the city has issued only 12 building permits for new homes this year, the lowest in 30 years.

The former Furnas Electric factory complex at McKee and Van Nortwick streets, which has been empty and on the market for several years, may be demolished soon, he said, even though there isn't a buyer or a redevelopment plan in site.

And then there's "the infamous question: Is Fuddruckers really coming to Batavia?"

Two years ago, Schielke told the chamber that a Fuddruckers restaurant would be opening "in a few weeks" on Randall Road at Wilson Street. Burgers have yet to be grilled there, even though the space is decorated for Fuddruckers and the chain has been paying rent for more than a year. But, Schielke said, a Batavian is applying for the franchise, and expects to open it in the first quarter of 2009.

He talked about officials' focus east of the Fox River, putting together a stretch of city-owned property on Route 25 south of Wilson to entice retail development.

"The city is trying, in cooperation with the private sector, to jump-start some significant downtown development activity," he said, saying the downtown will "rock 'n' roll" once the economy improves.

"While this has been a dire time, I truly believe things are looking up."