Maple & Main

I have pulled a lot of things out of the Fox River in the past three years...

Garbage.

A bike.

Old tires.

A family that tipped their canoe.

But I am leaving today's issue to the professionals



At 7:45 this morning, I was out on the deck pondering my next blog entry when I heard a loud crash.

After the first crash, a series more crashes could be heard, and then something large landed in the Fox River- right by the clock tower.

My neighbor came out and asked me what had happened.

Within seconds, emergency vehicles were responding to the scene and people were emptying out of the local businesses to get a look at what all the excitement was about.

It appears there was a collision at the intersection of St. Paul and Madison- but how a car ended up in the Fox river at the clock tower is unknown.



The clock tower is a block away from where the accident took place!

Right now, the Fire Department is working to release the victim from the car.

I’ll get you an update when I find out more details.

Hopefully everyone makes it out alright.

You can click on the photos above for a closer view.

UPDATE:



Within an hour of the accident happening, the scene has been returned to normal.

What is most amazing to me is that the car has already been pulled out of the river. You would never guess an accident even happened at the site.

The Police and Fire units, once again, did an outstanding job.

It appears there were three cars involved in the accident, two had extensive front end damage as if they collided head-on, however it is still unclear as to how the third car ended up in the river.

I am sure more details will be released throughout the day.

(You can click on these photos for a larger view.)

Whoops.

It’s been near a month since I wrote a blog.

It’s not that I don’t like it anymore. It’s just that there really hasn’t been a whole lot happening downtown in the last month.

Besides the Hotel Project.

And the demolition of old fire station number one.

And the soon-to-come destruction of the paperback book store on the corner of Wisconsin and St. Paul to make way for new condos on the river front.

And the House of Guinness going smoke-free on Saturday nights.

And the outstanding Cinco De Mayo Art Crawl.

And the beginning of the Farmers Market on May 12th.

And the new pool hall going in next to Ace Hardware.

And the approval of the new Midwest Kidney Dialysis Center on St. Paul.

Why a Kidney Center downtown you ask?

I guess so the people who stagger past my place until 3AM every morning don’t have so far to stumble to get treatment when their kidneys shut down.

(In all honestly- Midwest Kidney wanted to be near the hospital. And I realize that kidney disease isn't just caused by alcoholism…however, its been known to be a factor.)

Let's not forget the welcome return of Cuddles Hallmark only a month after a broken water main caused a massive flood in the store and sent an undisclosed amount of Webkins floating down West Main St. (Rumor has it the Fox River carried them south to Racine where a female swan has adopted them as her own.)

And the selling of the old Donut Shoppe building. What’s in store for its future? Hold on tight folks…it looks like…it could be…it is!

A bar. (It has a few hurdles to jump first, but that’s the rumor going around.)

However, no one knows that yet, so keep it to yourself.

And last but not least, the Business Improvement District’s approval of the PR Committee’s $25000 radio and print advertising campaign. Keep your ears peeled for radio spots advertising all Waukesha has to offer. This will be a historic first for the downtown.

But besides that, it’s been really boring down here.

I guess I’ll have to look for some filler in the mean time.

Stay tuned…