Since it seemed like there seem to be a couple of outstanding questions surrounding the build out of the Decatur Depot as the Kimball House (reported here) and the construction work being done to the bocce court next to Leon’s Full Service, I asked owner Dave Blanchard for the latest scoop.  Here’s a summary of his reply…

Kimball House: Dave wrote back that the Kimball House just received its building permit on Friday and that they are anticipating that it will take four months to complete the total renovation of the interior and a fresh coat of paint on the exterior.

Leon’s: As for Leon’s, In Bloom was hired to total rebuild the bocce court area, with an “all new properly built court with drainage and the whole bit. New landscaping, benches, lighting and irrigation.”  Additionally, he added “There is one more phase for over there which will include a bit of covering  and new dumpster surround and enclosure.”

Depot photo courtesy of jimmywayne via Flickr,

The City of Decatur’s Linda Harris sent along this updated advisory…

The City of Decatur Police Department is working diligently to solve the recent cell phone robberies and the Wahoo Grill robbery while at the same time putting together various details involving the officers, detectives and command staff members to try and prevent further incidents. The Decatur Police Department encourages everyone to be aware of their surroundings and to limit distractions such as talking on cell phones or using earbuds and to secure items such as cellphones, wallets and purses in order to prevent thefts.

At the April 8 Oakhurst Neighborhood Association meeting Chief Booker said, “We are following up on leads as they develop, have done sketches for the ones where the victim was able to give us a good description, have instituted specific activities designed to prevent future problems, including scheduling approximately 200 hours of overtime in addition to regular shifts to make every effort to locate and prosecute the perpetrators.  Please know that these robberies are currently our number one concern and that no one wants this spree to end more than we do as a police department.”

Chief Booker added that the robbery at Wahoo Grill occurred after the business had closed and the victims were all employees.  He said, “We are following leads and working diligently in our efforts to solve that case.  The manner in which the robbery occurred looked well-planned and was carried out without much being said by the perpetrators and we do not feel that the Wahoo robbery is related to the other pedestrian robberies.”   The Police Department sent immediate information to the City’s retail and restaurant establishments in an effort to encourage awareness among business owners and employees.

The City of Decatur Police Department encourages anyone with information about the pedestrian cell phone robberies and the Wahoo robbery to contact them at .

• Decatur Commission to discuss increase in robberies [Patch]
  
• Neighborhood/Community Basketball tournament this coming Friday/Sat [Patti Garrett]
• Car break-in at Ridgecrest and East Lake [East Lake]
• BurgerFi opens at Emory Point this week [Patch]
• MARTA Board Member catches iPhone thief, wants to help him [Saporta Report]
• Atlanta pollen count continues to drop [AJC]

Chris writes in…

The Decatur High School Close Up Club arrived in Washington DC this afternoon and spent time at Arlington Cemetery, paying respects at the grave of DHS grad Harry Edwards, seeing a wreath ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknowns, and visiting the gravesite of John F. Kennedy. Mt. Chris Curtis, DHS Social Studies teacher is leading the group in a week long citizenship training program. The students will be meeting Georgia senators and other members or Congress, national policy leaders, and lay a wreath at the WWII memorial on Friday in honor if the thirty five Decatur boys who were killed during that conflict.