---

When I was growing up and my parents asked me where I wanted to go my answer would usually be "downtown."
"Downtown" Dodgeville was a magical place for a kid. It was the place to be on Friday nights and Saturday afternoons. The movie theater would be showing the latest western or Elvis picture. The stores would be open and everyone would come to town. Stores were open until 9 Friday so us kids had plenty of time to start the weekend or get together after a week of summer chores. Families would meet and talk. Merchants would enjoy having the opportunity to show customers their merchandise.
It was a treat to go to a downtown restaurant...there were four or five of them...and they were always busy. You could get a burger, fries and a coke for $1.00.
Need shoes? There were two or three shoe stores.
Need groceries? There were three or four grocery stores.
Dime store (the former nickname for variety store)? There were two of them and they were kid friendly.
Clothing? Hardware? There were at least two of each and most of the time three hardware stores and four or five clothing stores.
Add in two drug stores and a jeweler where you ordered your class rings. Plenty of shops to visit.
And the two banks served ice cream, milk and cheese during June Dairy Month.
That was the time when lawyers, title companies and dentists were housed on the second floor of business buildings. They were not open Friday nights. That was the time for retail.
The downtown has changed. With the city being the county seat and housing the courthouse, there are lawyers, title companies, insurance agents, etc. occupying the buildings that used to be home to retail. There are a couple empty buildings.
The Dodgeville downtown is struggling to find its identity.
This fall the downtown did not have its customary corn stalks as decoration. There was not enough interest to put them up.
That brings the question, "are we losing our identity as a downtown?" Or better still, are we losing our place as a designation?
We have an active Chamber of Commerce. We have a progressive city council, and they are good places to start talking about what the downtown can be.
We salute the businesses making downtown Dodgeville their home. We are glad to see new businesses starting up.
Downtown Dodgeville is good.
We would like to see our leaders address how to make it great.