Ebb & Flow

Small business folds its frames…Jo Korn’s That Frame Shop inside the Hide House, 2625 S. Greeley St., is closing and moving out by the end of January, according to its website. That Frame Shop marked down all displayed framed artwork 75 percent for its final days…Net zero energy RFP snares seven…The city announced seven bidders have responded to the request-for-proposal to transform the former Army Reserve site, 2372 S. Logan Ave., into a net-zero-energy development. (The net zero energy requirement means the development must produce as much energy as it consumes.) All but two of the reportedly interested developers are from Milwaukee and one is the city’s Housing Authority. From out of state: Sherman Associates (Minneapolis) and Traditional Neighborhood Design (North Carolina). From Milwaukee: Direct Current, HD Development, New Land Enterprises, and Vetter Denk…Unknown plans for fancy restaurant…Harbor 550 restaurant, formerly Pieces of Eight, has been closed since late 2008. The restaurant’s company, Anaheim, Calif.-based Specialty Restaurants, is still the leaseholder of the municipal pier where the unoccupied restaurant sits, a hot lakefront property between the Milwaukee Art Museum and Discovery World at Pier Wisconsin. Specialty Restaurants continues to pay its rent to the city, said Eric Reinelt, port director. Reinelt said the Board of Harbor Commissioners is still entertaining ideas on what to do with the municipal pier, but said no decisions have been made…Student-driven KK gallery closes…Spackle, an art gallery opened last year at 2674 S. Kinnickinnic Ave. by five UWM art grads, held its last show, “Perfectionless” during Gallery Night 2009 before closing Jan. 18…Toboggan slide riding…Whitnall Park, 6700 S. 92nd St., between College and Rawson avenues, has opened its 1,020-foot-long iced toboggan slide (the total track is over a quarter-mile long). It’s open Fridays 4-8pm, Saturdays noon-8pm, and Sundays noon-6pm. You can rent six- or eight-foot toboggans with metal runners for $7 per hour. For group reservations call (414) 425-7303. According to the Parks Department, top speeds may hit 35 mph…After all that tobogganing…Not long after the Bay View Compass vacated its former offices at 2534 S. Kinnickinnic Ave., a new tenant set up shop inside Suite 204 of the King Building: Michael Davis’ Milwaukee Massage. Davis, who’s studied under Bob King and John Barnes, is offering a $20 introductory rate for a 60-minute massage (the regular rate is $42). Milwaukee Massage is available seven days a week, 9am-8pm, according to its website. Call (414) 744-8753 or go to healingbalancemke.com…Are massage parlors recession-proof?…Not to be outdone, Karen Teague has recently opened a new massage therapy practice in Bay View-and she also offers Reiki. Integrative Therapy, LLC is inside Hair Experience, 2215 S. Kinnickinnic Ave. A 60-minute massage or Reiki session here goes for $65, according to her website, integrativetherapyllc.com. Call (414) 477-3333…Ordinance to regulate murals…The Compass is following the story of a proposed city ordinance to regulate murals-the kind anybody might paint on their own property. District 14 Alderman Tony Zielinski is one of its proponents. Opponents have raised freedom-of-expression and improper taxation criticisms with artists and others vocal in opposition. The heated buzz seems to have made a difference, at least delaying what could have been legislation considered in early February. The ordinance was not placed on the agenda for the Feb. 3 Zoning, Neighborhoods & Development Committee, on which Zielinski sits. He said he wants to talk with interested parties to see if common ground can be reached and that the ordinance is not his top priority. Read the proposed language yourself at the city’s website. Go to milwaukee.legistar.com and enter the file number: 081236 (the ordinance was drafted in 2008, so select “All” for years)…Urban agriculture discussion group…And finally, every Tuesday morning from about 8:30am onward, a group gets together at Anodyne, 2920 S. Kinnickinnic Ave., to discuss the realities and possibilities of urban agriculture. James “Godsil” Godsil is in the mix and dubbed the discussion group Anodyne Moments. Topics have included converting backyards into gardens, rooftop gardens, and the funding and politics of urban gardens. The group even took an field trip to visit Fernwood Montessori’s greenhouse and aquaculture systems.

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