City is Not Winning

Every time I step into the Habalis office, I'm greeted with a cheerful "Good Morning!" from my boss, typically followed by some clever one-liner about the weather, Charlie Sheen, and/or fishing.  But lately, these witty one-liners have been replaced or followed by his frustrations with the City.  I, the intern, have yet to do any official business with the City of Fredericksburg--my frustrations mainly lie within the University and their tendency to want to tear everything down and build monstrosities that are going to have to be re-built in 5 years...but that's another blog soon to be written....  

We love our downtown area, but I would hardly give it any bragging rights.  The City seems to have taken much enjoyment in keeping this historic downtown from becoming a "thriving downtown business district," or perhaps they are just confused with the meaning.  For that, I lead them to this scholarly Wikipedia article.  From absurd regulations to untimely responses or just plain ignorance, the local bureaucracy makes it extremely difficult for any real preservation efforts to be made in keeping it a historic area, as well as any business to be conducted in order to contribute to, once again, a thriving downtown business district. 

The City needs to strongly consider becoming a full member with the (watch out, I'ma hit you with another link) Virginia Main Street program.  But other entities are also going to have to be a helping hand--not forgetting HFFI, the ARB, local businesses, non-profits, and volunteers.  Fredericksburg has to make downtown appealing so that people who have the money, the interest, the experience, and the smarts to run a profitable business will want to do so.  We have the potential, but something's missing--the City's interest to be an actual 'city.'  Heck, bring in more mixed-use!  More apartments *gasp*!  More eyes and feet and wallets to the local coffee shop and farmers market.  More kids to play in Hurkamp park, more pedestrian traffic.  What's so bad about that? Of course we could go on and on, but we here at Habalis are in the process of saving lives and feeding the homeless. 

Until next time...

Roadside Review: Burgers "N" Things

Cousin Mike at Burgers "N" Things

I recently stumbled across a delightful culinary establishment while passing through the quaint town of Sperryville, Va. on the way to Shenandoah National Park.  With an empty stomach and an open mind, I sauntered up to the shed-like structure on the side of Rt. 211.  The menu at “Burgers N Things” was profound, the people were friendly, and the seating was non-existent.  After receiving my country burger, fries, and Dr. Pepper, I sat down at the parking lot picnic table adjacent to a small stream and dumpster.  The lettuce was crisp, the burger tasted farm fresh, and the slab of fried ham put the country in country burger.  The whole experience rated as an 8.5 on the awesome scale.  I feel a great deal of pride knowing that Burgers N Things is the first official Glass House Roadside Review.  However, anybody who has dined there before would tell you that this isn’t the first time this small shack has done big things.   

Habafishal.....is winning...Duh!

Habafishal; Early 21c., from Latin, lit Habalis "tool user."  The fishing division of Habalis Construction Inc.


Like any good construction company Habalis has a fishing division complete with our own custom koozies.

We are the proud corporate sponsor of this weekends Flintshire Farm Perch Jerk. The Perch Jerk is a father/son invitational white perch fishing tournament held on the Rappahannock River every Spring. Stay tuned for tourny updates and pictures. There are over 60 people camping and fishing this weekend and the weather looks delightfully cold and wet. Team Habafishal will be "winning" all weekend regardless of our tournament ranking. Duh!

The first 5 followers of the Glass House get a complementary Habafishal koozie. The usual small print applies.  

"Witty, witty, witty"

As the intern, and yes I will remain anonymous and officially name myself "the intern," I have been assigned this daunting, grueling task of keeping a preservation blog for Habalis Construction, Inc.  This blog will provide insight to not only many of our own jobs and projects, but also the preservation gossip around town.  The two crazy guys I work for will also occasionally post something to "Glass House," and I'm sure all their posts will be truly fulfilling and enlightening and educational--all of which this blog is aiming to achieve.  So keep checking up!  And we'll keep you posted! 
--Winning--