Rockville Central friend Eric Jensen brought this nugget from the Gazette to our attention over the weekend. It's an announcement from 1999 about the imminent opening of the Ben & Jerry's and California Tortilla next to the Regal Cinemas.
THE WAIT IS OVER
For the past nine months, two banners advertising the coming of a Ben & Jerry's ice-cream shop and a California Tortilla restaurant have first tantalized and eventually frustrated residents waiting for their arrival.
Now, after what seems like an interminable wait for many residents, the two eateries are gearing up to open next door to the Regal Cinemas in downtown Rockville. . . .
On Monday night, Eric Jensen, a 10-year resident of Rockville, stood at the podium in City Hall and told the City Council about his "personal disappointment with the lack of progress being made with the Rockville Town Center."
"Yes, it's true we have 13 movie theaters, but 13 movie theaters alone do not create the thriving downtown we have envisioned for Rockville," said Jensen, who suggested that . . . city planners pay close attention to the progress being made at another shopping center -- the Washingtonian Center off Sam Eig Highway and Fields Road in Gaithersburg.
"The Washingtonian Center is accomplishing what many people had envisioned for our Town Center -- attractive, well-maintained, beautifully landscaped sidewalks in an area that looks and feels like the way Rockville's downtown should look and feel," Jensen said.
Eric's got his wish! I know he would agree: Our town center is thriving, and Town Square is well on its way to being a local landmark for so many things.
Read the whole article here.
It's a great reminder of so many things: how far our downtown has come; how persistence can pay off; and how much patience is often required.
I love this town.
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