It appears the 'dream' may not be over.

It appears “The Dream” isn’t over after all, which could be good news for downtown west Dearborn.

In an article in Sunday’s Dearborn Times Herald, reporter J. Patrick Pepper reports that Hakim Fakhoury has a new proposal for a west downtown development on city-owned land.

According to the paper, the proposed plan was submitted to the city in February. Preliminary rough plans call for a four-story, 160-unit complex comprising residential and commercial components with an estimated development cost of $31 million. The paper reports that Fakhoury’s potential partner in the enterprise is developer Jeff Helminski of Moravian Companies.

As for the demolition of several eyesore buildings owned by Fakhoury, the Times-Herald reports that city officials agreed to halt demolition proceedings on the former Giuliano’s restaurant, Brother’s Tuxedo and Bally’s Vic Tanny. In exchange for the delay, some aesthetic work would be conducted on the buildings, including “power washing, construction material cleanup and covering the windows with opaque film,” the paper reports.

And those signs that proclaimed “The Dream is Over – For Sale”? The city required Fakhoury remove them as part of the agreement. The signs, the Times-Herald says, were a “public proclamation” of Fakhoury’s frustration with city officials.

You can read the complete Times-Herald story HERE.

We spoke of chickens here once before, so we thought it might be appropriate to share this story in today’s Detroit News about a rooster that is getting the boot from a residential neighborhood near Petoskey after a 16 month fight.  For that story, click HERE.

No hens in Dearborn.

As for the chicken case in Dearborn, resident Syeda Akbari, who had been hoping to keep her chickens, has been denied the right to do so at her home in Dearborn. That earlier story is HERE.

Dearborn City Council decided to punt the matter to the city attorney’s office.  The legal team simply sent a letter to Akbari saying “City Council would not take any further action on the subject at this time.” Attached to that letter sent to Akbari was a copy of a paper the legal department sent to Council members simply containing the relevant city codes on chickens and a recommendation to draw up a new ordinance if the council wanted to permit Akbari to keep chickens as pets.

The council’s decision to take no further action means there will be no chickens, at least not until a homeowner some day decides to challenge the current ordinance in court.

It appears the last auction for the Dearborn Atrium, formerly Adams Jr. High School, didn’t fetch an amount that was likeable to its owners. Read earlier story, HERE.

Sold in 2005 for $19 million, the Dearborn Atrium bidding begins at $390,000.

The Dearborn Atrium is again being offered through an online auction with REDC Commercial and CB Richard Ellis. Like the first auction, the starting bid is $390,000. You can submit a bid by clicking HERE.

There will be two open houses at renovated school on Friday, July 16 and July 23 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.

The auction itself will begin July 27 and is scheduled to end on July 29, 2010 at 1:05 p.m. (EST).

For those interested in scheduling a walk through the property, you can contact Christopher Conwell at 248-351-2049 or christopher.conwell@cbre.com

Dearborn Mayor John B. O’Reilly, Jr. will present Rima Fakih, recently crowned Miss USA, with a Key to the City on July 10 at 10 a.m. at the Ford Community & Performing Arts Center.

“We’re celebrating her win and offering an opportunity to hear Rima speak about her path to success,” O’Reilly said in a city press release.

The free event takes place in the Center’s Michael A. Guido Theatre. According to a city press release, Fakih will “deliver an inspirational message to motivate young people on how they too can reach their goals.” A short reception will follow.

Tickets must be picked up in advance from the theatre box office (313-943-2354).

Fakih returns to Dearborn after traveling abroad as Miss USA. Since being crowned on May 16, she has made appearances in China, Rwanda and many cities in the U.S. She is posting a video blog of her activities on www.missuniverse.com. Fakih, who grew up with her younger brother in Dearborn and earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the University of Michigan – Dearborn, says she plans to attend law school after completing her reign as Miss USA.

Dearborn’s new trash and recycle pickups begin tomorrow so residents should begin using their 96-gallon trash carts. This also marks the first week the city will be using Republic Services rather than Waste Management. Republic was the lowest bidder for Dearborn’s trash pickup contract.

While city offices will be closed on Monday for the holiday weekend, regular trash and recycle pickups will take place. Recycle trash hits the curb every other week. Residents in section “B” should roll their green recycle carts to the curb (there is an A or B section designation at the front of the recycle cart lid.

As for complaints by some that the trash carts are too large, the city of Dearborn says that residents with physical hardships to get their trash to the curb or anyone else having problems with the new 96-gallon carts can call 943-2085. Residents can request a smaller 64-gallon cart by calling that number.

Motorists who travel Michigan Avenue between Brady and Outer Drive now have something to smile about – the three month, $2.1 million repaving project is complete and all lanes were reopened Monday.

Woodworth becomes Woodsboro High School in the movie Scream 4.

Dearborn’s Woodworth Middle School will be named Woodsboro High School when it appears in the upcoming Scream 4 movie, which is expected to open in the spring of next year.

We wrote about the school’s starring role in the movie a week ago (see earlier story, HERE).  Well, now we have some official photos of what the school will look like in the movie.

The Woodsboro name also appears inside Woodworth Middle School.

For the next four days (Tuesday, June 29 – Friday, July 2) Dearborn will have a “fourth” high school with the addition  of Woodsboro High School in Scream 4. The photographs show how the front of the school has been changed for the movie.  Film crews also have done some work on room 208 and in the hallway outside the classroom.

The school will return to Woodworth Middle School once filming wraps up.

For those wondering, the school is being paid $500 per day for each prep and take down day and $1,000 a day for each filming date.  While we don’t have the exact number of days right now, school officials say film crews currently are scheduled for four film days and about eight days of prep and take down. So that would be a check to the school district of $8,000.

In an effort to get Dearborn’s Crowley Park pool open as quickly as possible, Dearborn Mayor John B. O’Reilly, Jr. last night authorized the spending of $8,600 to repair water leaks at the neighborhood pool.

The authorization to spend the money for the repairs, without seeking competitive bids, means the pool could open as early as next week, O’Reilly said. Longer term maintenance concerns with the pool will still need to be addressed.

In earlier stories here, the city said the damage to the pool because of water leaks was more extensive than originally believed. You can read an earlier story by clicking HERE.

Residents in the Crowley Park pool area should get their swimsuits and towels ready.

We’re not horror movie fans but for those who are into the Scream movie series you might recognize one Dearborn school when Scream 4 opens next year.

Woodworth Middle School

While most of the film is being shot in Ann Arbor, Woodworth Middle School, 4951 Ternes St., will star in a “flashback” scene in the film.

In the coming weeks, movie production crews will be constructing a new “face” of the school at the entrance of Woodworth. So if you spot some construction taking place at the school now that it is closed, it is all for the school’s movie cameo.

Apparently, the school was chosen because the design and brickwork closely matches a building that was featured in an earlier Scream film.

According to Hollywood gossip publications, Gilmore Girls star Lauren Graham is very close to joining the cast working on the Scream 4 saga. If she joins, she would join a number of other high-profile names in this slasher series. For those who follow these types of films, the series’ original writer and director, Kevin Williamson and Wes Craven, are leading the efforts behind the new movie, as are the original trilogy’s stars Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, and David Arquette.

The film will start shooting in Ann Arbor at month’s end and is scheduled to hit theaters on April 15, 2011.

Dearborn officials say sand and soil underneath the Crowley pool deck have been washed out by the pipe leak.

Pipe leaks in Dearborn’s Crowley pool appear to have caused more serious damage that originally believed and the needed repairs could keep the pool closed for the summer.

The city of Dearborn says leaks have washed away areas of the foundation under the pool deck, making the deck unsafe.

“The City must continue to determine the extent of that wash out and how best to stabilize the foundation of the deck,” according to a press release issued Friday afternoon.

This close up photo illustrates how sand and soil underneath the pool deck have been washed out by the pipe leak.

City contractors Friday identified the location of the leak in the pipe under the pool deck and made repairs to the specific site. But the scope of the repairs is more serious and goes beyond that one site, the city says.

The city says it also must address the following before it can even consider whether a re-opening can occur this season:

1. The most cost-efficient way to repair or replace sections of the pool deck in order to best cover that foundation.
2. The aging pipes of the circulatory system and the cost of replacing the pipes. Left unchecked, the pipes could leak in the future, disrupting the foundation and deck again.

The city has not yet provided details on how much repairs will cost but NSA, the company Dearborn hired earlier this year to assess the condition of all eight outdoor pools, is assessing the impact and repair costs. For more about NSA, click HERE

NSA will make recommendations to the City as soon as possible, the city says. NSA’s recommendations will likely include several approaches, from less expensive, “quick fix” repairs, the city says, to more extensive, longer lasting solutions.

Built in 1964, the problems facing Crowley pool aren’t unexpected, the city says. The hull of Crowley’s pool was replaced in the 1970s, and the city says it is now 10 years past its life expectancy. City crews repaired a leak in the pool hull in early June, fixing that problem before the pipe leak was discovered.

NSA will provide a report to the city on the condition of all pools,  including Crowley, and the associated costs to fix or maintain them now and for the long term. After receiving those recommendations, Dearborn officials say they will be in a better position to make a decision on whether to open Crowley pool this season.