IHOP coming after all

Friday's Herald has an article detailing a few of the new businesses which are coming to Grand Forks. Most of these projects - Denny's, Shoppes at Aurora strip mall, and remodeling the Gateway Hardees into a Subway/Little Caesar's - are not news to Grand Forks Life readers. However, one new business is a surprise: IHOP.

That restaurant chain is apparently coming to Grand Forks after all. The IHOP will be in the location that was previously mentioned as a site for an IHOP - 32nd Avenue just east of Village Inn. A new Denny's and a new IHOP both being built right next to an existing Village Inn...we must love pancakes in this town.

New poll: WDAZ fav, part deux

I'm an equal opportunity blogger. WDAZ's ladies had fun voting for themselves this past week and now it's the men's turn. The new poll question is "Which male WDAZ personality is your favorite?" Somehow, I don't think this poll is going to be quite as popular or hotly contested as the last one. My vote? Well, it was a battle between Ernie and Terry...we'll just leave it at that.

Poll results: WDAZ ladies

Time to close that incredibly chauvinistic poll question "Which female WDAZ personality is your favorite?" The top vote getter was Christine Reid with 34% or 81 votes. Click here to see how the 236 votes break down.

Tornado pictures

We've seen images of the destruction caused by Sunday evening's tornado and now we are able to see images of the actual tornado that struck Northwood. Several UND atmospheric science graduate students were out storm chasing on Sunday evening and you can view their gallery of images.

Good morning, America!

UND's Photo on the Green will be featured tomorrow on ABC's Good Morning America. No word on exactly when the spot will air so you may want to record the entire show which airs from 7 to 9 AM.

Tornado strikes Northwood

A tornado struck Northwood, North Dakota last night at around 8:50 PM (Herald story). At least one person was killed and multiple people were injured. Early reports are that the town has been devastated by the tornado and that numerous structures are seriously damaged if not totally destroyed. A 19-unit mobile home park was destroyed. Winds were strong enough to tip over railroad cars and rip of the top of a grain elevator. Dozens of fire trucks and ambulances and literally hundreds of emergency responders were one the scene late last night. The town is without power and the lack of lights is preventing a thorough assessment of the tornado's level of destruction. The morning will shed light on just how destructive this tornado was and just how much assistance the people of Northwood are going to need cleaning up.

My heart goes out to the people of Northwood. Please feel free to use this thread to share your thoughts and stories of the tornado. Also, feel free to post requests for and offers of assistance here.

Open Thread #40

Wow...open thread #40. The GFL open thread is now entering middle age!

100,000 and counting

This blog has passed another milestone that I think is worth noting. Recently, the number of unique visits to Grand Forks Life passed 100,000 and the number of page views currently stands at over 187,000. I think these are decent numbers considering that this blog is still over a month away from its two year anniversary. Currently, this blog gets about 400 visits and 700-800 page views (aka hits) each day.

A while back, I told myself that I would be very happy if this blog grew to have an average of 500 visits a day...it looks like that will actually happen quite soon. Thanks to everyone who reads this blog. Grand Forks Life literally wouldn't exist if there weren't people out there to read my posts and add to the lively comment sections that can be found here.

Adelphi Fountain back at UND

Adelphi Fountain - 2007
The Adelphi Fountain is back home on the University of North Dakota campus after a yearlong project to restore it to its former grandeur. As the school year gets underway, students and faculty are being greeted by the newly refurbished 1907 fountain. The restoration project was funded by a portion of the $10 million dollars that the late Roy and Elnora Danley left to UND. The above image shows the restored fountain along with those who restored it. From right to left are John Colle Rogers, Jenny Cole, and Lorraine Fenaille. John Colle Rogers was the restoration coordinator and did the iron work. Jenny Cole and Lorraine Fenaille sculpted the figures.

The fountain is a beautiful symbol of UND and the restoration work is amazing. Those responsible for this project deserve a big thanks. Click here for more background on the fountain and the project to restore it.

Below is an image of what the fountain looked like when it was new. Pictured are the outgoing 1907 President of the Adelphi Society and the incoming 1908 President and Vice President. The Adelphi Society presented the fountain to UND in 1907.

Adelphi Fountain in its early years

The Shops at the Aurora

The current commercial growth on the far reaches of South Washington Street is apparently set to continue. In addition to the new Aurora Hospital which should soon start construction in the Aurora Medical Park, a new strip mall called The Shops at the Aurora will be built just north of the Medical Park campus. Construction on the new mall could begin this fall.

This new development is in addition to the other ongoing commercial developments across the street from the Aurora complex. Currently, the Homestead Grove development features a two-story office building, a strip mall, and a bank. A second strip mall and another financial institution are planned for the near future. Also, a new Valley Dairy convenience store is under construction in the area and a new Wells Fargo bank is planned. A set of new senior citizen residential communities called The View and Maple View will also soon be constructed in the neighborhood.

Lots of strip mall spots to fill...get ready for the Subways, cell phone stores, discount hair salons, and tanning clubs! Actually, I'm hoping we'll start to get some interesting tenants for some of these new strip malls around town...I'm crossing my fingers. I've heard about a couple of interesting restaurants that may set up shop in some of the new strip malls...guess we'll just have to wait and see.