To the Editor:
Katie Belle’s was the first place my friend brought me to see when I first visited The Villages in 2008. When friends visited us, we did the same thing. We were proud of where we lived and wanted visitors to see what made this place so wonderful and unique. Katie Belle’s was on the top of the “must see” attractions. Countless times over the years I have seen other residents do the same. They would step out onto the balcony and show off the magical place we were fortunate enough to live in.
The renovation took away some of the magic, but we continued to go there because we enjoyed the bar area and the incomparable bartenders and the music. Unlike other venues in all three town squares, this was the place to go when you wanted to “class things up a bit.”
I agree with the Developer that it’s a wonderful thing to be able to walk to the town square, which is why we bought our courtyard villa. We walked downtown every night. I realize that indoor spaces, bars and nightclubs are not safe places to go right now, but someday the possibility exists that we will all be dancing and enjoying live music again. I was looking forward to getting back in to some of my fancier clothes and having a dressy night downtown.
If the upstairs space at Katie Belle’s gets gutted and turned into apartments it will make a couple of dozen people happy. But if the space can be used to once again be host to dinners, music and a first class night out, it will make hundreds, even thousands of people happy.
My question is this – Are apartments really the highest and best use of that classic space? Can the developer find some other space to fulfill the dream of apartments for Spanish Springs that doesn’t impact such a legacy? Once it’s gone, one of the things that differentiates The Villages will be forever lost.
Marsha Shetterly
Village of Del Mar