Locally owned businesses revive downtown Mesa By Hailey Paquette For years, downtown Mesa wasnt known as a center

for much of anything. It was depleted. It had no vision, no direction, said Jerry Phelps, owner of a screen-printing company named Shirtail, which has been open in downtown Mesa for 25 years. Over the last several years though, a revival has slowly but surely begun in the area due to new initiatives by the Downtown Mesa Association and the city, according to merchants and others. Downtown has seen an influx of new, locally owned businesses, such as breweries, music venues and pop culture companies that have helped shape this transformation by giving downtown an offbeat, locally oriented culture. Monsterland Bar & Grill is one of those businesses. It originally opened in October 2011 as a haunted house and horror movie prop museum during the Halloween season. After Halloween season was over, owner Kevin Wind decided to remodel the space that Monsterland was operating in and reopen as a bar and grill so that they could stay open year round. The restaurant features over 60 animatrons, a replica of the werewolf from the movie An American Werewolf in London, a Spartan used in the movie 300 and hundreds of other unique props which are handmade by the owners daughter, according to Kristy Smith, marketing and promotions director for the restaurant. The restaurant had its grand opening on Friday, April 13. People were waiting in line up to three hours to get into the restaurant, according to Smith. We were only open for two days last weekend and over 1400 people came through. Thats 1400 people that may not have come to downtown Mesa otherwise, said Smith. Gotham City Comics & Coffee is another business that has helped shape the newer, livelier version of downtown. The business originally operated as a small comic book shop in the back, selling mostly used comics from the owners collections, and a coffee shop in the front, according to owner Kevin Johnson. Gotham opened in its current incarnation in January of 2011, after the Johnson and a partner realized they needed to expand the comic book side of the shop due to the amount of people coming in who were asking for newer editions of comic books. The shop now sells comic books, video games and memorabilia and has a full coffee shop inside as well. Last year, the shop won the Phoenix New Times Readers Choice award for best comic book shop and the award for the fifth best place in Phoenix to geek out. Since 2002, downtown music venues The Nile Theater and The Underground, which are housed in the same building, have remained closed due to legal problems. The venues kept their doors shut until 2010, when local concert promoter Mantooth Group took notice and decided to reopen them after months of searching for a venue to operate in Tempe, according to owner

Michelle Donovan. A lot of people remember the Nile as a place they went to as kids. Its a big draw to downtown, said Downtown Mesa Association Director David Short. The Nile and The Underground now host approximately two dozen shows a month inside a building that can hold up to 800 people. I think it is crucial for a downtown area to have live music. Our product changes daily so there are different people down there each day that want to explore and hang out. It helps build a diverse community, said Donovan. This summer, downtown Mesa will also be getting its first microbrewery when Desert Eagle Brewing opens up on Main Street. The brewery is planning on opening in July and is the first microbrewery ever licensed by the City of Mesa, according to owner Joe Campbell. At first, the brewery will serve only beer but will later expand into food. Campbell is hoping to draw some food trucks to downtown in the meantime to serve his customers and hop on the popularity of food trucks as well. One of the flagship beers that Campbell, who has been home brewing for 20 years, plans on producing will be named Main Street Blonde Ale. Were born and bred out of Mesa, so its kinda cool that the city will be getting its own beer, he said. But its not just these businesses that have helped the area begin its transformation. The Downtown Mesa Association has been heavily marketing the area and planning events in hopes of reintroducing people to downtown Mesa, according to Short, director of the association. One of the events that the association has planned to bring people to downtown is Second Fridays, a block party meets art walk that is held once a month. Main Street is closed off and more than 60 art booths are set up all around downtown and a stage is set up for live music. Local restaurants and shops stay open late for the event. Each month features a theme, like last Octobers Zombies vs. Robots, Mays Sci-Fi Friday and Junes Beach Party, according to the downtown association website. On the first Friday of each month, the downtown association plans an event called Motorcycles on Main. Harley-Davidson, chopper and other street bike riders and owners are invited to downtown to show off their bikes on Main Street, which is shut down to regular traffic during the event. Theres a lot of fun things to do down here, and [the downtown association] promotes it well. I only see it getting better down here, said Johnson.

Weve got a great downtown and we want to show it and the great businesses here off. Events are one of of the best tools to do that, said Short. In addition to all the work that these locally owned businesses and the downtown association has put into the area, theres more development currently in the works. Construction on a new light rail line that is planned to begin in 2013 will extend existing lines directly through downtown, according to the city of Mesa website. Once you bring in mass transit, people can live, work and play all in the Downtown area, said Short. Its going to bring a lot of new people here. A satellite campus of Benedictine University is currently planned to open in fall 2013 on Main Street as well. The college hopes to enroll 1,500 students within 10 years, according to a fact sheet published by the city of Mesa. Theres a lot of development going on, said Short. Theres a lot of excitement and energy to open up here right now. Part of downtown Mesas transformation into an up and up and coming area has been the fostering of its own local culture. One of the most paramount things to developing a downtown is that the area develop its own sense of culture, according to Rhonda Phillips, who teaches business and economic development at Arizona State Universitys School of Geographical Sciences Urban Planning and is a certified economic and community developer. So far, Mesa has developed its culture organically, according to Phillips. Mesa has a lot of potential to further develop. Theyve avoided the pitfall of having many chains and formula stores, said Phillips. What makes downtowns unique and different is that they have locally focused businesses. Anyone can go to a chain or formula store anywhere. The area already has a diversified mix of arts, restaurants, different sizes of stores and cultural dimensions, said Phillips. The genesis for change is already there. Right now its an interesting place, full of potential, she said. Johnson, owner of Gotham City Comics & Coffee, opened up here because of the culture that is developing in the area and the welcoming attitude that the city has towards edgier businesses. This is the up and coming nerdy, geeky place to hang out, he said. We are a lot less hip that Roosevelt Row, said Donovan, who runs The Nile Theater. It is a pretty geeky spot, but thats what I find endearing about it.