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What else does Wilmington need to be more fun? We have (more) suggestions.

Ryan Cormier
The News Journal
While Wilmington is not Milan, a rooftop restaurant/bar with a view would add flair to the city.

About three years ago, we decided to brainstorm about what Wilmington needs to be more fun.

We offered eight suggestions, five of which have largely become a reality as the city's revitalization efforts push on. Let's take a look at the progress:

-- Production brewery: Wilmington Brew Works is expected to open in late May/early June on Miller Road, delivering the city its first production brewery in 64 years. As a bonus, microbrewery/brewpub Stitch House Brewery opened on N. Market Street across from The Grand last month -- only the second downtown Wilmington brewery in more than six decades.

-- Record store: The independent SqueezeBox Records opened off Pennsylvania Avenue in October. 

-- Late night eats: Still no late night diner, but food trucks (especially The Plum Pit Food Truck) are a regular sight in Trolley Square on Friday and Saturday nights into the wee hours. (Baby steps, people.)

In October, Rich Fisher and Kim Gold opened Squeeze Box Records, a vintage vinyl record store in Wilmington.

-- Beer garden: The Constitution Yards Beer Garden on the Riverfront will be entering its third season beginning April 26.

-- Better art house theater: The Mill, which operates a 12,000-square-foot co-working space in the Nemours Building, took over operations of Theatre N in 2016 and brought back its beloved original theater manager Beverly Zimmermann.

Here's what hasn't come yet from our 2015 dream plan: a hip-hop festival, a Wawa and Amazon same-day delivery. (We have one-day delivery now, but same-day is still out of reach.)

Since we still want a rap fest, Amazon same-day and Wawa (or, even better, a deli with proper breakfast sandwiches and bagels), we're holding those over for this new wish list.

The Constitution Yards Beer Garden at the Wilmington Riverfront is shown.

We also brainstormed new ideas in the newsroom, asked readers for what they wanted and came up with more suggestions as Wilmington continues its march toward becoming a more livable city.

Here are some of the ideas that rose to the top:

-- Rooftop restaurant/bar with a view. Wilmington has all these big buildings with rooftops and they are almost never used for anything fun. We have to go back to 2010 when Trombone Shorty played a Light Up the Queen Foundation fundraiser atop the ShopRite of Christina Crossing parking garage for a great Wilmington rooftop memory. This city has views. Why not let us see them? One reason might be neighbors. A rooftop party scheduled for the Colonial Parking Garage at 12th and N. Orange streets in 2016 never happened after Midtown Brandywine residents complained about possible noise. Even so, city views on summer nights (or even winter evenings in heated domes) would sure scratch an itch.

Wilmington foodies want a higher-end supermarket in the city.

-- Grocery store. When it comes to major supermarkets in the city, there's Trolley Square's Acme, The Fresh Grocer of Adams Plaza on Fourth Street or the newer ShopRite of Christiana Crossing near the Riverfront. Yet there are still plenty of residents who hop in their car and head north to Concord Pike for higher-end supermarket experiences at Trader Joe's, Wegmans and Whole Foods. Could one of those stores survive in the heart of Wilmington? Perhaps something the size of Trader Joe's on the Riverfront or in the Trolley Square area if you can somehow find space.

-- Pedal boats, kayaks and more. Fort Christina was built in what is now Wilmington by the Swedish in 1638, drawn by the confluence of the Brandywine and Christina rivers. These days, the river is almost an afterthought. When it comes to easy fun on the Christina River, which snakes along the Riverfront, it's generally limited to rides on the Riverfront Wilmington River Taxi or dinner cruises on The Riverboat Queen. You can also row with the help of the Wilmington Rowing Center. Perhaps it should be easier to get out there with pedal boat, kayak, canoe and paddleboard rentals? And while the former Up the Creek restaurant used to have a 680-foot floating dock, there's nothing like that left now. A reader proposed a new marina near a Riverfront business. 

-- Riverfront pool. If getting too close to the bacteria and other pollutants that can be found in the Christina River isn't your thing, but you still want to get wet in the summer, how about a large pool along the Riverfront? It's would be the closest thing we have to a beach and we can envision families with children and young professionals alike being drawn to a pool. In fact, there's a reason why Buccini/Pollin Group has made sure there's an outdoor pool at their new Residences at Mid-town Park luxury apartments-- it's an amenity that the city's younger workforce really want.

-- Casual downtown hangs/all-age club. The business culture that dominates downtown Wilmington by day still leaves its mark at night. The restaurants that cater to the biz lunch crowd try to morph into more casual bars at night, but in the end, they're still just gastropubs. Downtown needs more places like hard-to-find Nomad Bar on Orange Street, which offers only original music and booze to one of the most diverse bar crowds in the city. Maybe an even smaller indie place with music for all ages, a BYOB license and cheap pizza slices could work. Local acts could use another spot to perform for a chill crowd in a more underground setting. Bonus: Could double as a comedy club.

Delaware's largest city still does not have its own bowling alley.

-- Bowling alley. In 2015, readers reacted to our wish list with suggestions of their own. And many wanted a bowling alley. If you've been envisioning a bowling alley in Wilmington, you're not alone. How about a cross between Rehoboth Beach's Lefty's Alley & Eats and Philadelphia's Lucky Strike? It could incorporate a club atmosphere at night with a bar and better food than hot dogs and popcorn. AMF Price Lanes in Prices Corner and First State Lanes near Edgemoor shouldn't be our only options in this era of high-end bowling alleys.

The Big Kahuna lured club-goers to the Riverfront for years before its sudden 2006 closure, leaving the city without a proper nightclub.

-- Nightclub. If you remember the crowds that went to Kahunaville and The Big Kahuna on the Riverfront in the late '90s and early '00s, you know what's possible. Look at the big summertime crowds that flock to FireStone Roasting House, which, along with Lavish and Celebrations on Market, is the closest thing to a full-scale club in town. Or take a look at what The Queen is doing. For dance party shows like last week's Biz Markie DJ set or the upcoming Royal Nightclub show, the doors stay open late -- until 12:30 or even 1 a.m. They're keeping large crowds out until last call -- something that almost never happened under World Cafe Live.

-- Weekend trolley. Even in a world where Uber and Lyft are at just about everyone's fingertips, does downtown, the Riverfront and Trolley Square need to be better connected? If city officials envision creating a truly bustling city, perhaps something between the boozy Jolly Trolley at the beach and the more staid tours of the Wilmington Trolley Company would work on Thursday through Sunday nights. If promoted and cheap enough, it could become part of the city's entertainment/food culture, especially if patrons can track the trolley on their phone. Sure, ideas like this have come and gone in Wilmington before, but maybe it could work in the future.  And if we want to really go for it, check out what's available in the world of pedal bars, including the one in Nashville. It's a pedal-powered open-air vehicle with bar stools and coolers for a BYOB experience on the road.

-- More inventive bars and restaurants. As one reader put it, "Not everything needs to be Trolley Square Oyster House." Or Trolley Tap House. Or Kelly's Logan House. Or Firestone Roasting House. On the city's west side, the independently-owned arcade/bar 1984 offers tons of games and live music paired with craft beer, while fellow indie Oddity Bar has oddities such as taxidermied animals and cult films playing on its TVs. Not far away is the Crimson Moon, still waving the flag as New Castle County's only gay bar. The restaurant groups that dominate the scene tend to play it safe. You can almost get the same look, same food and same drinks no matter where you go. Does every meal have to be a sandwich with a small pail of French fries next to it? There's a reason Wilmingtonians don't live in the suburbs, so there's no need to import its boring fare. Start new traditions, bring in new ideas and give customers a real reason to come back.

Contact Ryan Cormier of The News Journal at rcormier@delawareonline.com or (302) 324-2863. Follow him on Facebook (@ryancormier), Twitter (@ryancormier) and Instagram (@ryancormier).