Making the bestof downtown life

Huntsville Times
The campaign to bring more life to downtown Huntsville is more like a football season than a single game. There's a new challenge each week, it seems, and it's hard to win them all, even when you're a team.

Two recent meetings of downtown business owners and city officials showed just how tricky it can be. Consider:
That downtown is far from dead now. Almost the entire central core north of Huntsville Hospital and south of I-565 is occupied. There are many fine restaurants and bars already, including 801 Franklin, Ruth's Cris Steakhouse, the Furniture Factory, Partners, Kaffeeklatsch, Crossroads, Masons, Humphrey's, the Chophouse, Sammy T's, the Bistro du Soleil, Papou's, the Voodoo Lounge and the Jazz Factory.

That despite those, and the ones I've probably left out, most downtown buildings still hold offices that close at 5 p.m. Worse, for this discussion, is that most of those are storefront attorneys' offices and the like, meaning there is rarely new street-level space for shops or hangouts.
That almost no one lives downtown to support what is there, although people do live nearby in the historic districts.
That no people means nightlife thrives on the weekends and starves during the week. People from all over head downtown on weekends but, during the week, stop at restaurants and bars closer to Home Sweet Suburb.

How do we keep downtown busy all week so it thrives and grows? How do we get the entertainment, shopping and living zone we all seem to want?
If you have an idea, downtown merchants would love to hear it. Seriously. They've taken the first big step and overcome their natural competitiveness. They know that they really are in this together.
My big idea - you knew I couldn't resist plopping one on the table - was to offer dinner and drink specials at rotating bars and restaurants on a certain night each month. Call it "Do Downtown Tonight" or something like that. Give me a coupon and a bargain. Make it worth my while to drive back in from 'Burb World.

Well, it could happen. At least they didn't laugh out loud.
Another good idea - not mine - is to focus on the business travelers who fill Huntsville's hotels during the week. These people are a captive audience, so to speak, and they have to eat somewhere. They want to unwind after work. Why not downtown?
Why not? They don't know what's there. That's why the city is working with downtown destinations to offer free tours and treats to the city's "front line" hotel workers.
Downtown businesses also asked the city last week to tweak the free trolley schedule. Right now, the two city trolleys run a downtown loop on Friday and Saturday nights. They are usually nearly empty.

That makes sense, too, when you think about how we really live here. We drive downtown on the weekend, hit our favorite spot for entertainment, food or drink and maybe walk to a nearby spot for dessert or a nightcap. We don't do a lot of pub crawling here.
Run the trolleys earlier in the week, the businesses said, and run them past more hotels, including hotels on University Drive.

Might work, city leaders said. We'll look into it.
This is how our downtown will be changed. It won't be one big zoning decision or similar bold stroke. It will be dozens of individual decisions to open businesses, work together, work with the city and keep trying.
"None of this is written in stone," a city transportation official told me. "Try something. If it doesn't work, try something else."

Smart man. And a good friend for downtown to have.
Reach Lee Roop at 532-4423, lee.roop@htimes.com or text at 509-9644. Visit Roop's room blog at al.com.