Posts Tagged “Huntsville, AL”

Culprit:

Lovelace Services

Summary:

1. They cancel appointments and do not call to let you know until the end of the day.
2. They do not call you to let you know intentions even when they have already said they would.
3. They rarely answer the phone (the only means of contact that I could find).

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Well, when I first heard the rumblings of a new mall to be constructed in Cummings Research Park (which I though to be a very odd location, and really still do), I looked online to see if I could find any mention of it. I did, in fact find that the mall is actually a franchise-like mall that had similar setups in other locations. I happened to run across a site plan for the mall early-on which happened to mention a space marked Apple as “In discussion/negotiating”. Well, this stirred a bit of interest, but was dismissed since I had already heard plans that the local privately owned “Mac Resource” was planning to relocate. No, biggie, they were planning to move into the new mall, and they developers simply marked the space Apple… Right?

Well, actually, not that long afterwards, a sign with a little apple on it appeared in a completely different location from where the mall was being built and was marked as the new location for Mac Resource… Well, I decided to dig in a little deeper. Soon, I found that monster.com had job listings in Huntsville made by Apple… not Mac Resource. At this point I was pretty sure that they were going to open a store, especially after Mac Resource opened their new building.

Well, now it is in full plain view of the public on the Bridge Street Towne Centre website. Apple is clearly listed as coming to the mall. Now, I have been there, and walked through and I did not see any sign of a coming Apple store. I was beginning to think they had changed their mind. It is a shame that this will likely limit the business of the locally-owned Mac Resource though.

NOTE: I no longer have a copy of the original site plan that was marked with Apple on it. I do have this updated version with an unmarked #108 space which is where the store is rumored to be located.

Also, the Job Opportunities Section of the website includes positions for the Apple store.

Feb 22, 2008 UPDATE:

Someone has finally dug to the bottom of the Apple Store. The building permit has been acquired, and the location determined. It will be in the southern-half of the mall in location #S23.

June 1, 2008 UPDATE:

The store opened on the 31st.

Mike Wing, former CEO of Huntsville, Alabama’s U.S. Space & Rocket Center was sentenced in a Texas courtroom to 10 years in prison and ordered to pay more than $9.1 million in restitution to dozens of victims after he pleaded guilty to wire fraud.

Unfortunately, this is unrelated to the big mess he made at the Space Center in 1998/98 when he was CEO. I don’t know how this guy got into the position, but it sure was a huge mistake. He still hasn’t paid on the settlement that he made with the State of Alabama years ago, when he allowed tons of 5th graders to go to Space Camp for free. At least Don Siegelman replaced the entire membership of the Alabama Space Science Exhibit which runs the center.

Hopefully, this will put an end to Mike Wing’s activities that have lead to so many problems.

Well, interestingly, I found an article this morning about finding the Apollo 12 Mobile Quarantine Facility at some fish farm. The funniest part is that nobody knew there was one out there missing. They thought they were all accounted for. Anyway, this one is apparently headed to the new Saturn V building at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center which should be a nice addition.

It seems that after several years, the Saturn V (1 of 3 full vehicles still in existence) that has sat behind the U.S. Space & Rocket Center, here in Huntsville, has finally been restored, and now moved from it’s old location exposed to the weather (in the picture) and into a brand new building. It is now, for the most part, out of the weather, and it’s new home is being completed around the rocket itself. You can check the progress on the vehicle’s webcam.

Having worked at Space Camp Florida for several years and visited the similar setup at Kennedy Space Center, I have to say that it is quite awe-inspiring, and only fitting to have the massive machine preserved. Although the Saturn V at the Space & Rocket Center is made up completely of test stages from Marshall Space Flight Center, I find it fantastic that the center has decided to place the vehicle right in the public’s view, in what will be the new lobby of the center.

Now, if only they could get their act together about the Spacelab training modules…