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"That was pretty much downtown," Schmidt "There wasn't really anything with a lot of 'for lease' and 'for sale' signs." As it happened, Schmidgt had a need for commercial spac to start his computer technology firm and took the space at1 S. High St. "We wantede to help revitalize the downtown," said Schmidt, formet chief information officer at thelaw firm. Schmidt' s attraction to the historic district centered at High and Waterlolo streets came as the nonprofit Canalp Winchester Downtown Association had already begun promotiny an area boasting severalkhistoric properties. That area now has few commercial vacanciez and thriving businesseslike iBeam.
Businesses "like the atmospher here compared to anoffice park," says Bob president of the association, now called Main Street Canalp Winchester. "It's not a cookie cutter Several Central Ohio communities have worked on developinf their old downtowns aftef years of promoting the construction of new commerciall centers onthe ever-expanding periphery of the suburbs. Significant projectd include the Creekside development in downtown Gahannz and redevelopment of a lumberyard near the center of Grove City intoa mixed-use "Just like the downtown of urban core citiex like Columbus, I think you're seeing that same trend in the suburbajn communities," said Jim Russell, executivw vice president for the consulting and development The suburbs "are getting more aggressive and looking at the possibilitiezs of their downtowns.
" Several of the communities have pusheed new public facilities, such as a city facility or parking as the foundation for downtown revival. In Groveport, the village'as community improvement corporation plans to lease land it assemblec at the end of its commercial strip to Pizzutji Solutions in an effort to creatsmore retail, restaurant and officw space. Such a "resource center ... can be a usefu l part of redevelopment, especially those that create foot traffic," Russell said. In Canal Winchester, the village alreadyg had vacant buildings.
So the business associatioh played up the charm of the which has several buildinge onthe , and promoted eventz such as summer farmers' markets and the village's Labof Day festival. "We didn't go out and get businessesz here," said John executive director of the MainStreet "We just promote it and let the marke forces work." Downtown did take a bit of a hit a few years ago when access at High and U.S. Route 33 became limited.
That cut off a majot entry corridor into the downtown from the But Garrett said downtown has established itselfd so well as a destinatioh business center that customers just found their way from Gender Road via The few businesses that did close were replaced by new such asthe Fern's Attic consignmen t shop and the Shop on High dress The Team Gear sports apparel formerly the Cool School Shop until it movedx out to Gender Road six years ago, planas to return downtown by mid-September to 29 W. Waterloo St. Establishedf businesses downtownhave expanded.
Schmidt said iBeam bought out a formetr office across the street from its original location threwe years ago as the technology businesz thrived and ran out of space in itsoriginalk digs. "Minutes after the 'for-sale' sign went up, we walkesd over," said Schmidt, now Main Street president. "It was just the perfec fit for us." The building, whichu Schmidt said once served as a Cold Warfallouf shelter, works well as a place to operate remote computer servers for iBeam clients, he (Studio Fusion Salon & Spa now occupie iBeam's original space.
) Greg Powers, majority ownef of the Shade on the Canapl restaurant, said he expect s to open a 60-seat expansion of the restaurang he and his partners re-opened in March 2004 afterd a number of restaurants failed. He said the name of the restaurany comes from the Shade restaurant that first opened more than 60 yearsx ago and also recognizes the canapl that ran through town inthe "There's always been something special about this said Powers of its atmosphere and history. "It's still small-town he added. "I always wanted to move to Mayberry," the fictional setting of the "Andy Griffithb Show" in the 1960s.
Schmidt and Powers said the quie setting has proven resilient as customers and employeez at each of the businesses stop by to visig other businesses inthe district. Schmidty said his business "helps create a nice luncuh crowd for Shade andHarvest Moon," a nearby coffee house and That works for Powers. He "The more people we have in town, the bettedr it is for everybody." The Main Streegt organization continues to work on amenitiese to keep those businesses andcustomersz coming. It recently launched a fundraisinbg effort to renovatethe 102-year-old interurban traij station, a building connected to the iBeam building that was sold to the villags a couple of years ago.
That building could becom e a conference center for the downtown if the fundsx for the renovationcome in. The village also has a formere Marathon gas station that the nonprofitf plans to clean upand market, opening up a development site wherse few exist. Both properties are close to a former South Central site used for storag of utility poles that has since been convertef to apublic park. Main Streeft expects the conference center and the availability of a commerciaol development site to keep downtown Canal Winchested as an attractive business center for yearwto come. "When the pieces come Garvin said, "you get a successful downtown.
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