Muscatine High School - Auroran Yearbook (Muscatine, IA)

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LCOM DOD G CITY Like a page out of old West history, the scene was typical. Dust flew as river breezes kicked up y whirlwinds that swept through the doorways of old storefronts. The S streets were bare and dry. There were no sidewalks, no pavement or parking meters. Only sand, gravel, dirt and fragmented chunks of what was once the busiest street in downtown Muscatine. Take away the graters, dump trucks, and other road repair equipment, and you could have filmed an episode of GUNSMGKE right in the middle of Second Street. , The city of Muscatine began its beautification program for the downtown area in May, and continued improvements and construction through October. Steps taken to make the downtown work involved completely rebuilding a four block area of Second Street from Iowa Avenue to Walnut Street. After widening and repairing the sidewalks and streets, workers added several wooden benches and installed cement planters at each corner of every intersection. For weeks, businesses in the area were inconvenienced by the torn up streets and sidewalks. Faithful shoppers had to battle the dust, watch their steps climbing over chunks of brick and metal, and avoid falling into huge holes. Traffic had to be rerouted constantly as workers completed, the streets block by block. Beautification was not limited to Second Street. At the riverfront, parking lots were expanded and new ones built where old vacant buildings once stood, to accommodate the expected heavier traffic. In the park area, an open air pavillion was erected, overlooking the Mississippi. looming upward in the gray sky, the high-rise apartment for the elderly is completed in stages. In several months, it would be ready to house many awaiting senior- citizens. - Urban renewal took placeon. Third Street, as cranes and scaffolding hovered over the frame of what would soon be new high rise housing for the elderly. Its location would make it ideal for tenants wishing to shop downtown.. Although the inconveniences y .ytgg y during the beautification period liyl were many, theilfinal results were' worth every parking problem, every bit of dust in the eye and every ' chuckhole your feet managed to land in. . . g gg We gained our new downtown and made more important gains if where community ties were concerned. Citizens worked to make their community a special place for everyone. We made it work, together. g x 3. -v rt rf' :ku A tree grows in Muscatine at the corner- oft each intersection on Second Street. Shoppers look forward to at greener downtown next spring as the treesadd a touch of nature to the ominous coldness of the gray concrete buildings. r ' i ' ' ' i ' 'S Urban Renewal 21

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n 1 f me ke Remember those years when all we had to do to register for school was go to our homeroom and the teacher passed out the schedules for the upcoming year? Well, that was all fine and dandy in junior high, but as we saw high school looming ahead, to our vocabulary came a phrase only the upperclassmen could chuckle about-the fine art of self-scheduling . Self-registration appeared at Muscatine High on August 26 and for the incoming sophomores it was, indeed, a new experience. When asked, What did you think of the registration procedure? one sophomore lamented 'LI thought the registration system was really confusing. The teachers should work out the schedule and not the students. Others liked the system of registration because they had oppotunities to arrange their classes at the times they wanted, and the freedom of choice was not restricted by the faculty. Self-scheduling is one event that can make or break a person's composure depending on where their initials fall in the time slots in the registration booklets. Stumbling through the halls on the opening day of school proved to be an event which many appeared to enjoy. Greeting summer-lost friends, reacquainting ourselves with squeaky-clean floors, and the major first-day search for lockers, classes and lost combinations made it a day most people would never forget. For veteran juniors and Seniors, the day proved to be more of a casual, hey-haven't-seen-you- all-summertype day. They spent much of their time between classes guiding bewildered Sophomores Sophomores were usually easy to spot. They were the f'huddles moving through the halls. They were the faces with, Will I maintain my sanity? and a year of written all over them. When the 3:15 bell finally rang, everyone made mad dashes to lockers before pouring out the doors to waiting buses and cars. On the way home it slowly dawned on us that we'd made it over the first hurdle. The question now was would it be a smooth race, or a steeple chase to the end? 22 RegistrationfOpening Day One swift kick. Frustrations of opening day face Lorine Keller as she attempts to open her jammed locker. Stubborn lockers served as a reliable excuse for class tardiness. -1,7