SHEFFIELD – Things are improving in Sheffield. A newly refurbished Downtown area. The Music Heritage statue (that’s really Elvis, isn’t it?). A couple of restaurants, fishing tourneys, renovated Victorians on Montgomery Ave… the list goes on.
And Saturday, Mayor Ian Sanford, Council Members Mary Stevens, Steve Stanley, Steve Nix and Ronnie Wicks were cooking hotdogs for the crowd at Discount Dan’s, a new home and building supply center on 2nd. Street at the site of the old Marvin’s. If you aren’t invested in Sheffield, you might wonder why there was so much attention paid to this Grand Opening. Indeed there was even music from Travis Wammack and his band, and special appearances from Bobby Denton, Wayne Chaney, and “The Leaning Man of The Shoals”, Donnie Fritts.
Discount Dan’s is one of a number of new businesses that have opened, or are slated to open in the near future; breathing new life into the city’s finances. For years, Sheffield’s bank balance has been suffering. Since the city’s heyday in the first three-quarters of the 20th Century, Sheffield suffered from the loss of industry and population as, it seemed, the rest of the World moved on.
As the City languished and property values took a nosedive, the next 25 to 40 years weren’t kind. But things are different today. Roads and neighborhoods are being improved, the Waterfront is burgeoning with activity, and the price of developable land is lower that in any other City in The Shoals.
And that’s why everybody showed up at Discount Dan’s.
The Quad-Cities Daily was there taking photos of the celebration and we present them here.
