I recently visited the brand spanking-new “Intermodal” (i.e. Amtrak/Greyhound) Station in downtown Milwaukee. I was pretty excited when I heard about the renovation because the old station was, um, a dump. I have to say, the remodeling was a success. The place looks gorgeous, with its floor to ceiling windows.
So today, I read this story about how the city is fighting to get a decent restaurant next door, but thus far, the only takers are a couple of fast-food joints. Even Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett said “we can do better.”
I agree with Mayor Barrett…sort of.
I think they should look for something better than Dunkin’ Donuts and subs. But, before they look at adding fine dining, they might want to do one simple thing: Look up.
In my opinion, there’s a huge problem developing at the Intermodal Station that gives a worse impression than the smell of fried food. The flocks of circling birds are using the gigantic windows for, shall we say, target practice. That’s right, the first thing you notice about the beautiful new station is the windows and the next thing you notice is that they’re covered in bird poop. In fact, they look like....you-know-what.
And so I ask: Somewhere in that $15.8 million renovation, did anybody put in a few dollars for window washing? Because I don’t know about you, but the sight of bird-droppings doesn’t make me hungry for anything.
