06/06/2024
We got a mention. Thank you for the article about the historic brewery district! Very cool. Much love
The next outdoor concert is Friday July 26th, 2024 featuring a band on tour from Denver, Colorado.
"Pictures At A Demolition"
A word about 1013 West Main before moving on. The unavoidable decision to raze a dilapidated commercial building caused quite a stir on Belleville social media this past week. Unfortunately, as is usually the case in Belleville, an awful lot of misinformation was stirred into the pot.
As a result, many of us spent too much time in the reactive sphere. You really want to be in the provactosphere as much as possible. There were a lot of amazing events this past week in Belleville, many of them charitable endeavors, but a neglected building which long ago slipped into disrepair stole too much limelight.
The white elephant sat along a corridor which is actually actually an economic development of sorts. It even has a name. It's called The Belleville Historic Brewery District, & it runs along West Main from approximately 8th to 17th street.
Liking that page would help build awareness. That's a very proactive thing we could all do. It would certainly help brand that sector, which is important. In marketing, you fake it 'til you make it, but nothing ever makes it in any part of Belleville, or anywhere else for that matter, until the local community gets behind it.
The Belleville Historic Brewery District is not a forgotten, decaying part of Belleville, as some implied. That corridor is in a state of renewal in fact. Several properties are currently under renovation. Remember all the dilapidated buildings along East Main before that corridor became what it is now? (It's a pretty extensive list actually.)
Rome wasn't built in a day. Neither was East Main, & there is a concerted effort to make the Historic Brewery District an economically viable answer to its East Main counterpart. It will take our entire village to make that happen however, not just a handful of dreamers & entrepreneurs. Then we can move on to the inevitable fight about who gets all the credit, but let's not put that cart before the horse just yet.
Work is well under way in the Historic Brewery District. As you can see from the pictures, or just by driving through the area, there's a beautiful & fairly recent streetscape, complete with new sidewalks & curbs. Like the handsome wrought iron fencing and inordinately expensive street lamps in the picture? That's good, because you paid for it!
In all seriousness, infrastructure had to come first of course. You can't make a silk purse from a sow's ear, & what's public domain along that corridor now looks ready for new businesses development.
And there's a from foundation of growing commercial residents!
At 825 West Main, The TOCO Shop Belleville is a 15-year anchor tenant, helping individuals & families experiencing financial hardship, & those transitioning into permanent housing. They like to call themselves the best little grassroots nonprofit thrift shop & textile pantry this side of the Mississippi, and we don't say they're wrong! They work in conjunction with the city's Office of General and Community Assistance, as well as the Salvation Army to meet people where they are. They're big fans of live music, & they have some exciting community events planned to help showcase the Historic Brewery District.
(The picture on the bottom was taken at one of the TOCO Shop's recent biannual Rummagepaloozas, held in the city-owned parking lot at 900 West Main. The image hardly supports the narrative of a rundown, abandoned sector of Belleville.)
Right next door to TOCO, there are always some sweet sounds comin' down at Lonnie's Farm Recording Studio at 901 West Main.
Big Finger Records at 907 West Main sponsors outdoor concerts in the lot next to the old Maxwell's. Past shows have included bands from South Africa, Colorado, Italy and Australia!
(See the comments section for a photo of a Big Finger Records show)
Harter's Hot Wax & Shakes will be one of the trendiest spots in Belleville as the corridor develops.
The front door of the Filipino Sari-Sari Store at 1017 West Main can be safely accessed now that bricks aren't falling onto the sidewalk from 1013 West Main.
One burgeoning project that we're looking particularly forward to is the new Harp Pub, an Irish bar which is currently under construction. There's a pic of the exterior in the comments section.
No discussion of that corridor would be complete without talking about the old Maxwell's location. In 2021, new owners purchased the building with the intent of opening a new bar/restaurant. Renovation costs proved to be too daunting however, and the property is back on the market or will be soon. We are supremely confident it will find the right owner sooner than later.
Demolition is never fun. It can be disheartening to see things come "down." You want to see things go "up." Construction cranes are always preferable to wrecking balls.
But you always have to give up some of what you've got to get what you want. That's why it's always important to look at the big picture, not just smaller snapshots. They don't tell the whole story. And the whole story is, whatever we can conceive and believe, we can achieve.
We did it once on East Main. Now it's time to cast our sights just a little bit further west of the square & create a vision of the Historic Brewery District!
The best part is, it's already happening. We just need to give it a push!
