ARTS & LIFE: SPORTS: VIEWS:
Not Enough
Volunteers run, raise money for scholoarships Page 2 Road trips add two wins to soccer record Page 3 Schools invading student’s privacy Page 5
Another game slips away from Mean Green football Page 4
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
News 1 Arts & Life 2 Sports 3,5 Views 5 Classifieds 6 Games 6
Volume 96 | Issue 27
Sunny 79° / 59°
ntdaily.com
The Student Newspaper of the University of North Texas
Fry development draws public input, interest Fry Street petition stalled BY JOSH PHERIGO Assigning Editor
Despite collecting more than 700 student and resident signatures since mid-February, a petition to turn a 4.6-acre section of the Fry Street Overlay District into a public park will likely never make it to a public vote, according to city officials. The proposal, which has yet to be submitted to the city secretary’s office, would seek to force the city to acquire the mostly vacant block bordering Hickory, Welch, Oak and Fry streets and prevent the construction of a City Council-approved retail and living complex, petition organizer Bob Clifton said. “The reason we decided to turn it into a park is because the two proposals that have been presented suck,” he said. Clifton, a long-time Denton resident and former business owner, said once the petition is turned in to the city secretary and enough of the required signatures — around 800 — are verified, the Council will be forced to vote on the proposal. He said if it votes it down, the issue would then be slated for the next general election. But Denton Mayor Mark Burroughs said the petition is irrelevant. Citing the city charter, Burroughs explained that no petition could force the city government to either raise taxes or spend money. This petition, he said, would do just that. Clifton, however, maintains that the wording in the proposal does not specifically mandate that the city spend anything. “It would force the city to acquire the block by what-
ever means necessary,” Clifton said. “We have not told the City Council t o s p end money.We’ve told them to BOB acquire it. CLIFTON We don’t care how.” Clifton said the city has several v i a b l e options for obta i n i ng t he la nd : MARK purchasing BURROUGH t he l a nd from the current owner, trading the property for other cityowned land or condemning the property. Burroughs refuted each option, saying they would all require the city to spend money. “The bottom line is none of those options are financially viable for the city,” Burroughs said. “We would be talking very expensive property, and the city doesn’t have the budget for that. Condemnation requires that the land be closed for a public purpose. Park land is not something you can just condemn.” Clifton said the petition will continue and he hopes to have it verified and submitted by the end of the month. “It’s gone on long enough, and it’s time to drop it in their laps,” Clifton said. The Facebook group Save Fry Street has more than 300 members and displays a student artist’s rendering of what a Fry Street park might look like.
PHOTO BY STEPHANIE MULCIHY/INTERN
Hundreds of UNT students have signed Denton resident Bob Clifton’s proposal for the vacant block on Fry Street to become a city park.
PHOTO BY DREW GAINES/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
The Denton-based band Leatherwood was among the groups that performed during Tomatopalooza Saturday at Dan’s Silverleaf. The fundraiser was organized by former employees and owners of The Tomato pizza in an effort to bring the restaurant back to Fry Street.
Restaurant owners, managers try to bring back Tomato BY AUTUMN R EYNOLDS Contributing Writer
Students may see the return of an iconic Denton staple in 2012: The Tomato. The owners and three past managers of The Tomato had their first event Saturday in an effort to raise money for the re-establishment of the restaurant near the UNT campus. “You have to have money to make money,” said Becky Slusarski, who owns the business along with her husband, Robert “Ski” Slusarski. The f undra ising event, Tomatopalooza, was at Dan’s Silverleaf and Rubber Gloves Rehearsal Studios with a $10 charge at both venues. More than 150 people attended the event. Local bands played for the fundraiser, including Hennessey, Ella Minnow, The Heelers, Leatherwood, Shelby and Crew, and Demigods. They sold T-shirts, posters and Tomato memorabilia, including a chair. The fundraiser was organized by the managers, who will also help the Slusarskis with the legwork of restarting and running the business, said Cindy Usrey,
one of the three managers. “We really want to reconnect with UNT and the student population,” she said. More than $750 was raised from the fundraiser after considering the cost of the venues, T-shirts and posters, Usrey said. They feel the fundraiser was successful, she said. The Tomato was on the corner of Hickory and Fry streets to the left of Cool Beans before an arsonist burned it down in June 2007. The business had been shut down before being burned, however. A Houston-based real estate company, United Equities Inc., bought the property, which forced the Slusarskis out of their building, Becky Slusarski said. Until recently, the idea of reopening had been on the backburner, Usrey said, because the Slusarskis had been working fulltime jobs. The managers and owners decided they needed to get the process going. If they didn’t, they were going to lose their name recognition, Usrey said. The amount of money needed to start up The Tomato depends
on what locations are available, the Slusarskis said. They are still keeping their options open. A pre-existing restaurant would be ideal and less expensive, Robert Slusarski said. The target open date for The Tomato is sometime in the fall of 2012, Usrey said. The Slusarskis don’t worry about Crooked Crust being a stiff competitor because there are all kinds of pizza places in the area. People like different kinds of pizza, Becky Slusarski said. Kelly Clymer, majority owner of Crooked Crust, is familiar with The Tomato’s history, respects its legend and doesn’t feel like it could be replaced by another business. Crooked Crust is more of a hitand-run-between-classes eatery, but The Tomato would be more of a hang-out restaurant, he said. “Our prices are attractive to college students,” he said. “We are strong as far as getting what you pay for.”
Josh Kitchens, a communication design senior who was raised in Denton, said he went to The Tomato about every week. It was an iconic place for Denton because it had a different atmosphere, he said. “I miss it,” he said. “I grew up with it and now it’s gone.” Usrey said The Tomato would change from what it used to be. The building will be the biggest difference because everything will be new, and the walls won’t be coated in nicotine and graffiti, Usrey said. The menu will also expand to include pasta and Italian sub sandwiches, Becky Slusarski said. What won’t change, however, is the pizza recipe or personalities of the employees, Usrey said. “We want to maintain our sassy wait staff,” Usrey said. The owners and managers are planning to do at least four major fundraisers in 2011, Usrey said. “We are not letting this die,” she said.
Fry Street development attracts attention from businesses BY A DAM BLAYLOCK & LORYN THOMPSON Staff Writer & Intern
Businesses are lining up to fill the retail spaces in the Fry Street development project before the opportunity has become available. The 4.3-acre lot surrounding Cool Beans Bar and Restaurant on the corner of Fry and Hickory streets was approved in July to be developed by the Dinerstein Compa n ies. Si nce t hen, Dinerstein has been working on finalizing plans to add an apartment complex, retail space and a parking garage to the vacant lot. Dinerstein Companies hired Alex Payne, the president of Axis Realty Group, to promote the rental of the final retail units. “My understanding is that Dinerstein hasn’t officially closed on the property yet,” Payne said. After Dinerstein officially closes, signs will be put on the property with contact information for those interested in renting the available spaces, he said. Although the process of promoting the space hasn’t offi-
cially begun, Axis Realty has seen some interest from businesses wanting to rent the spaces when they become available. “As of right now, I’ve personally talked to a few [businesses] that have been looking,” Payne said. The project is expected to break ground in February or March of 2011, Payne said. The apartments should be ready for residents by that August, he said, and the retail spaces may open around the same time. Josh Vasbinder, vice president of the Dinerstein Companies, estimated that the area would provide about 194 units and 10,500 square feet of retail space. He did not have numbers for the rental costs of apartments and retail space. The total square footage and number of units available are also not final, Vasbinder said. A parking garage with about 665 stalls is in the plans, he said. The rental prices for the apartments and retail space after the project is finished is a matter that Vasbinder wouldn’t speculate on. “Our [prices] will be very much in line with where the
market is,” he said. Payne gave an estimate of the monthly retail costs to businesses that would want to rent the space. “Retail space will probably be in the $30-per-square-foot range,” Payne said. Blessing Ananti, a pre-biology sophomore, thought the project might make the street a more pleasant place to visit. “Fry Street just seems like the drunken place to go,” Ananti said. “If it were nicer, I’d go there to hang out with friends in my free time and in-between classes.” Among the businesses interested in renting space in the development is The Tomato, Payne said. The Tomato, a local pizza restaurant that was on the corner of Fry and Hickory streets on the same property, has been closed since 2007. It burned to the ground because of arson in June of that year. To maintain the privacy of potential clients, Payne would not disclose the names of any other businesses, but he did talk about the types that have approached him. “The primary interest has been
from restaurants,” he said. A sandwich shop and a 24-hour breakfast restaurant were two of the interests he mentioned. Dinerstein will make the ultimate decision of who is allowed to rent the space, Payne said. “It’s not my choice [to select businesses],” Payne said. Vasbinder said a number of factors would affect the final selection, including prospective businesses’ financial backing and the saturation of individual types of businesses already in the area. “I don’t think you can just put [businesses] into two columns,” Vasbinder said about the choice between local and commercial interests. The Dinerstein Companies previously promised the community to do their best to fill the retail space with local business interests. However, it may not be reasonable to expect every unit to have a local business in the end, Vasbinder said. “There may not be enough moms-and-pops to fill the 10,000 square feet of retail,” Vasbinder said.
PHOTO BY DREW GAINES/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
Austin Harmon, an organizer of this year’s Tomatopalooza, stands behind memorabilia from The Tomato up for auction at Dan’s Silverleaf. Dan’s hosted Tomatopalooza on Saturday. Proceeds from the event will aid in the effort to bring the restaurant back to Fry Street.