Northeast : Development News

The Northeast Minneapolis Arts District, which was established to recognize a vibrant local arts scene, took on formal boundaries in 2002 after various community leaders combined forces with the city and the McKnight Foundation.

Since then, the district has taken off, especially in the last couple of years, and many community members want to build on that, according to Susan Wagner Ginter, who chairs the board for the Northeast Minneapolis Arts Association (NEMAA).

To do so, it’s taking part in the first-ever “State of the Arts District” forum on April 12 at Chowgirls Parlor, organized by the Northeast Community Development Corporation, the Northeast Chamber of Commerce, and the participating speakers.

The event capitalizes on the fact that, “NEMAA is stronger and the arts district is a reality,” Ginter says.

For example, its annual arts crawl, titled “Art-a-Whirl,” brings 50,000 people to the area, she says, adding that the event's business impact is huge.

The question is, “How do we keep the momentum going and keep a stream of people coming into Northeast and discovering the amazing resource that we have?”

Hopefully the forum will help the community plan its next steps. “It’s about how to integrate the arts into the community and keep it vibrant,” she says.    

At the forum, Josh Blanc, who co-owns Clay Squared to Infinity with his wife, Layl McDill, will talk about their experience with a downtown pop-up art store, which they ran in a vacant space over the winter.

“They took a risk and they did really well selling their artwork,” Wagner says.  

Further, it’s a good example of artists getting out of their studios and into the community, a move that has a lot of potential, she says.

She hopes that the forum will bring together community leaders who’ve been instrumental in setting up the district, along with others who want to get involved.

Source: Susan Wagner Ginter, president, NEMAA board
Writer: Anna Pratt 

Soon, a memorial honoring veterans will have a spot on the south end of Sheridan Memorial Park in Northeast Minneapolis, which has views of the Mississippi River.  
 
The $400,000 public art installation has been in the works for five years, according to Deborah Bartels, a project manager from the Park Board.
 
Local veterans collaborated with the Sheridan Neighborhood Organization (SNO) to enhance the new park, which eventually will hook up with the regional trail system along the river, with various amenities, including picnic areas, playgrounds, and more, she says.
 
University of Minnesota designers came up with a concept for the site. The plan for the memorial was presented at a Feb. 21 open house at Park Board headquarters. Soon, the board will select an artist for the sculpture through a competitive application process.   
 
A sculpture that speaks to “memorial and sacrifice” will go into the middle of a circular plaza, the Park Board’s website states.
 
Surrounding the sculpture will be vertical markers that speak to the nine conflicts that Minnesotans have fought in. They’ll give some background on the wars, including personal anecdotes.  
 
An “empty” marker will “represent the precarious nature of peace,” according to Park Board information.   
 All along the way will be paths, benches, and green space; trees will ring the outer edge. 
 
As for the sculpture, “We’d like to see what people come up with,” says Bartels. “We don’t want it to be representational.” The idea is to do something that’s “contemplative in nature,” she says.
 
Site work will wrap up by Veterans Day this year, while the main sculpture will be finished in time for Memorial Day in 2013.
 
Source: Deborah Bartels, project manager, Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board
Writer: Anna Pratt
 

The Mill is a kind of coworking space for "makers" in the industrial arts. 

It includes a woodworking and metal shop, classroom, laser cutting and three-dimensional printing equipment, and a gallery space in its Northeast Minneapolis building, according to its website.

Previously, the 6,000-square-foot warehouse space was occupied by the Land O’Lakes company and later, a company called Hillcrest Development, according to The Mill’s founder, Brian Boyle.

Most recently, the warehouse had been used to manufacture washers and dryers before it sat vacant for some time, he adds.

When Boyle started to build out The Mill, which officially opened on Jan. 21, the space had an open floor plan, “with no walls or phone. It was just a big box,” he says.

That being said, “It’s a great location with great light,” he says, adding, “One wall is all windows.”

Right now, Boyle is still in the process of dividing the space to accommodate different kinds of maker-related activities, including an area for large assembly projects. 

“Making” is a new term that literally describes making things, "something that has been going on forever," he says. Boyle, who took inspiration from similar places in San Francisco, wants to “add the capabilities that this equipment affords for whoever wants to do it.” 

In this setting, “Anyone who wants to fabricate something can collaborate with others.”

“One of the great benefits is the idea of shared resources,” he says. “It’s hard to justify the purchase of this equipment for individuals.” It’s also a way to train people to use the equipment safely and responsibly.

Further, with people who have different areas of expertise to turn to, “It expands people’s creativity and what they can do.”
 

Source: Brian Boyle, The Mill
Writer: Anna Pratt

Soon, a building in Minneapolis's Northeast Arts District that sat vacant for a year will become a hub for beer, art, and solar power.

It's been dubbed the Solar Arts Building, according to Nathan Berndt, a cofounder of Indeed Brewing Company, which will be its anchor tenant on the first floor.

In the past, the 1914 building had various uses, including housing a Sears Roebuck distribution center and more recently, an electrical transformer company, before it went through foreclosure stages, according to Indeed Brewing information.

Besides the brewery, artist-geared spaces, some of which have already been snatched up, will fill the building's remaining two floors.

It’s an ideal location for the new brewing company, which recently signed a lease for the space with building owner Duane Arens, Berndt says. “We’re involved in the community and we support being in a place for people to come together,” especially artists, he says. “We like being around creative people.”

Another dimension of the brewing company will be a public taproom, for which the design is still being developed.

A strong visual feature will be the building’s original wood columns, which lend a turn-of-the-last-century warehouse feel, he says.

Sustainability is also an important aspect of the building’s overall rehab. On the building’s rooftop a sizable solar array will be installed. It’s also getting new energy-efficient windows and mechanical systems, Berndt says.  

The effort to go green is something that’s important to the brewing company, as well, he adds.

“This sleepy dead-end adjacent to the Northstar Commuter Rail tracks will be a bustling intersection of art, craft beer, solar power, and urban revitalization,” the brewing company’s website states.

Indeed plans to open this summer.

Source: Nathan Berndt, cofounder, Indeed Brewing Company
Writer: Anna Pratt

At its Sept. 21 meeting, the Minneapolis park board initiated a 45-day public comment period on the RiverFIRST proposal to revitalize some key parts of the Upper Mississippi riverfront.

It's the next step toward making the plan a reality.

The proposal lays out various design concepts and an implementation plan for “problem-solving” parks, walking trails and other amenities for the river area, mainly between North and Northeast Minneapolis, according to information from the Minneapolis Riverfront Development Initiative (MRDI), which is leading the charge.

RiverFIRST is the product of a collaboration between MRDI project manager Mary deLaittre, the Tom Leader Studio in Berkeley, Calif., Kennedy & Violich Architecture (TLS/KVA) in Boston and New York financing consultants HR&A.

For months, the proposal has undergone an extensive editing and community engagement process, fleshing out an earlier version that won MRDI’s international design competition, according to project information.

In the proposal, five priority projects, all of which are doable over the next handful of years “exemplify ‘re-sourcing’ the river, while eliminating as many barriers as possible,” to help lay the foundation for future riverfront development, deLaittre says in a prepared statement.

For starters, a riverfront trail system that would go through Farview Park in North Minneapolis would join other existing city and regional parks and trails to form a “user-friendly network of commuter and recreational connections, most notably across the Interstate 94 trench cutting off Northsiders from the river,” a prepared statement reads.   

A number of floating BioHaven Islands on the river could help improve water quality while also providing habitat for plants and animals.   

The plan also calls for a new Scherer Park that would take advantage of park-owned property along the river in Northeast.

Separately, the Northside Wetlands Park “transforms significant acreage from the existing Port of Minneapolis.”  

Finally, an historic park that leads into the downtown area could be restored, according to MRDI information.

Going beyond the five-year projects, “The Draft RiverFIRST Proposal has the potential to create the largest expanse of new public and green space since the Minneapolis Parks system was first created over 100 years ago,” a prepared statement about the project reads.


Source: Information from the Minneapolis Riverfront Development Initiative
Writer: Anna Pratt

Kelly Sharp, who owns an old-school barbershop called The Barber Sharp, recently redeveloped the Northeast Minneapolis building where the shop is located.

The building, which once housed a gallery and apartments, now has a handful of businesses. Tiger Rose Tattoos opened up on the second floor earlier this summer, while the spaces for Studio 3 massage therapy and the Tarnish & Gold art gallery are still undergoing renovation.

Sharp also plans to host various events in the building and create a community garden just beyond the parking lot.

The businesses collectively agreed to call the building The Foundry. Sharp explains that a foundry is a place where “precious metal is broken, melted down and molded to become whole again.”

It’s symbolic of what she hopes happens at The Foundry, and how it came together, she says.

She’d been running the barbershop for about a year at its original location a couple of blocks away--where it had been in business since the 1920s--when her rent increased. It was then that Sharp, who lives nearby, scouted out the building at 349 13th Ave. N.E.  

It seemed like an ideal location, but the whole building had to be leased at once.

Although she’s seen other real estate ventures fail in the economic downturn, she decided to go for it. “I said, ‘build it and they will come.’ I said to the universe, 'send me the people who are supposed to be here.’”   

Her vision was for a place that would “build a strong sense of community,” a kind of “third place” where neighbors can come and hang out, she says.

After she got to work on revamping the building, a process that included everything from repainting to opening up access to the courtyard, other business owners started to express interest.

She’s found that the main focus for those who want to be a part of the development is on “helping people get where they want to be in life”--not money.

She’s pleased that the community has embraced the shop.

For example, several generations are coming together at the barbershop. Some of the men who’d patronized the barbershop for decades under its previous owner had never had their hair cut by a woman before, she says.  

“People can buy art or have a massage or sit in the courtyard,” she says.  

Source: Kelly Sharp, The Barber Sharp
Writer: Anna Pratt

Plans for bike-ability on the east side of Minneapolis are coming together in 'bits and pieces,' says Michael Rainville, a bike enthusiast who lives in the St. Anthony West neighborhood.

He helped organize the recent Eastside Bike Summit, which drew nearly 80 people to the Ritz Theater in Northeast Minneapolis.

Getting bike trails on this part of the city is tough because so many different levels of government have to sign off on things, he says.

But Rainville is hopeful about the area's future bike-friendliness.

The 5th Street/2nd Avenue Northeast bike boulevard is a highly anticipated project that Rainville estimates will be completed within the next couple of months. 

"It's been talked about for years," he says, adding that with several traffic circles and a stoplight, "it'll be a nice safe place for people to ride their bikes going south through the east side of town," all the way to Columbia Heights.

Also, a bike lane is slated for Main Street and Marshall Avenue Northeast, from 1st Avenue Northeast to Broadway, though the segment that would go to Lowry is on hold.

Also proposed are bike lanes for Central and 37th avenues Northeast to the Mississippi River and on 18th Avenue Northeast from Monroe Street Northeast to the Quarry Shopping Center.

To help bicyclists safely cross the busy East Hennepin and 1st avenues northeast, which are part of a city streetcar study, a meeting-goer suggested that a bike lane go on the bridges and continue down the street. "All it would take is a couple gallons of paint," Rainville says.    

It's a good example of "the purpose of these summits, to get new creative ideas and talk about them out loud," he adds.

Rainville hopes that another bike summit will happen this winter. "Passion is all spread out. It's coming from all over the east side," he says.


Source: Michael Rainville, Eastside Bike Summit organizer
Writer: Anna Pratt

The city of Minneapolis is trying to gauge whether there might be any interest in redeveloping the historic Grain Belt brewery office building and a nearby empty lot at 1215 and 1219 Marshall St. in Northeast.

Last week the city sent out a request for proposals (RFP) for the site, which is part of what an "Above the Falls" study describes as an architectural and cultural landmark along the Upper River, and which the city is offering to package together or as two separate parcels.  

This portion of the brewery complex is among the last to be developed, according to city information. The brewery houses various architectural offices, Park Board facilities, and a public library branch, while the nearby lot has long been vacant, according to city information.

The city is appealing for a neighborhood- and pedestrian-friendly mixed-use housing development for the entire site or a portion of it, and renovation of the existing office, but it's open to other kinds of ideas as well, according to a prepared statement from the city.

Wes Butler, a staff person for the city's Community Planning and Economic Development (CPED) division, says the city is picking up where another developer left off about a decade ago. With the economy easing up, "We thought it would be a good time to remarket it now, to see if there's any interest in the original vision for a housing site," he says.

In the 24-page RFP, which emphasizes the site's nearness to the city's central business district and strong transportation connections, the empty lot is listed for $1.4 million and the brewery office is priced at $50,000. 

Proposals should involve "a varied yet cohesive mix of land uses complementing and enhancing the historic character of the brewery complex," possibly including commercial services, residential, recreational, arts-related, and light industrial uses, according to the RFP. 

City staff and the neighborhood group will review the proposals, which have an Aug. 1 deadline, before they go before the City Council in the fall, the RFP states.

In 1989 the city restored the brewery, which had declined since it closed in the 1970s. Read more about its history here. 

The brewery's historic status adds character to the site, and an extra challenge. Such features as the footings from the old Orth brewery, which preceded Grain Belt, need some sort of historical interpretation at the site, he says. "It makes it a unique spot with some challenges," he adds.  
 
Source: Wes Butler, staffer, city of Minneapolis
Writer: Anna Pratt

Eric Brew, a St. Paul resident, has long thought about creating an arts hub where writers, painters, thespians, and others could hang out and feed off of each other. 

The timing seemed right, so he recently set in motion an online kickstarter fund, to which anyone can contribute, to make it a reality. 

He's eying a 4,000-square-foot space in Northeast Minneapolis, the previous home of City Salvage, which moved next door, for a combination coffee shop, bookstore, and creative outlet he's calling Brew's Coffee & Books.

To make it a go, Brew needs to raise $32,000 in start-up expenses, including the first month's rent and deposit, business licenses, permits, coffee bar, bookshelves, and plumbing.

So far, the project has received $1,575 in startup funds, according to its website. The deadline for raising the money is May 4.  

Brew, who was inspired by the famous Shakespeare and Company Bookshop in Paris, wants to provide a similar feel, with a book-filled partition and plenty of nooks and crannies. "It's the complete opposite of what's there now," he says. "It has an empty floor plan." 

The vacant space has hardwood floors, exposed brick walls, and a stage. Brew is looking to incorporate writing studios and a lending library, along with books for sale on consignment and dramatic performances.

He envisions a place where people can teach or attend classes, perform, and participate in discussion groups and more. "The biggest thing is having an open space available to all kinds of artists, not specifically writers or actors, but everyone."

Brew's will emphasize sustainable practices: "We promise to be as green as we can be in two environmentally taxing industries, coffee and publishing," its website states.  

For starters, the caf� will serve specialty coffees that come from a local roaster who supports "direct trade" coffee beans that come straight from farmers through an area importer, while sustainable practices will be constantly refined, according to its website. Food will also come from local sources. 

The cafe will try to use as many secondhand items as possible, Brew says. To get the concept beyond the idea stage, he's working with a couple of collaborators while also networking with artists. He hopes to open the cafe in June.   

Source: Eric Brew, originator of Brew's Coffee & Books
Writer: Anna Pratt

Sustainability, community, and technology are a few of the key words to describe the $5.2 million renovation of the Hennepin County Library-Northeast at 22nd and Central avenues northeast.

Nearly 300 people showed up for the library's grand re-opening on April 2, according to Lois Lenroot-Ernt, a spokesperson from the library capital division.

The library's collection of books, CDs, and DVDs has been "refreshed," while the physical space has been modernized, with some features that pay homage to its roots, she says.

It's one of a number of libraries that are being improved throughout the county system.

A big part of the Northeast library's major renovation involved revamping the 1973 bricks-and-mortar building, she says. But a portion of the building was removed to make way for a 2,400-square-foot addition, for 16,900 square feet altogether, according to library information.

Sustainability was an underlying theme for many aspects of the project. For example, the addition's exterior is covered with long-lasting zinc panels. The material "naturally maintains a protective patina and will self-repair imperfections and scratches over time," a prepared statement reads. A new stormwater management system on the building's roof also helps out  environmentally, while the lot has been landscaped with native plants.

Inside, the building has automated daylighting controls, while windows and mechanical systems have been replaced to be more energy efficient, according to library information. 

Lenroot-Ernt says community gathering spaces were a priority. As such, the renovated library has more spaces for reading, studying, and meeting, equipped for laptops and wifi access. Twenty-four computers have been added.  

She says the children and teen section allows for better browsing, with books available in bins, and there are some interactive components. Additionally, customer service points have been streamlined, she says.

Other aspects of the project incorporate details from the building's history. For starters, the wooden plank ceiling was kept, and was extended into the addition.

Near one entrance a cleaned-up concrete medallion, a library artifact, is displayed along with a pen and ink drawing of the original Carnegie library building; historic photos line the walls. Among Lenroot-Ernt's favorite additions are the occasional tables that a local woodworker crafted from an aging oak tree that had to be removed during construction.

All in all, the library's profile has been raised, she says, adding, "People can see it from Central Avenue and I think it's going to be a great asset for community members."

Source: Lois Lenroot-Ernt, spokesperson for capital division of Hennepin County Library
Writer: Anna Pratt

The Northeast Community Development Corporation initiated a proposal for the Jac Flats condos some years ago, but it was shelved due to market troubles.

Now, it could come back in a new form.

Artspace Projects, Inc., a Minneapolis-based nonprofit real estate developer that's working with the community development corporation, has adapted the project for 35 affordable live/work apartments for artists, according to Artspace project manager Andrew Commers.   

The $9.3 million four-story apartment building will be constructed on the same lot, at Jackson Street Northeast and 18 ½ Avenue Northeast, and it retains many of the same ideas, including the artist focus.   

"All units will be for low-income artists and their families," Commers says, explaining that some units will be reserved for those making 30 to 60 percent of the area median income.    

The apartments will have high ceilings and big windows that allow for plenty of natural light, which he says is ideal for artists who'll work in the space.

Tenants will decide what to do with a 2,500-square-foot communal space, which could be used as a studio, gallery, or classroom. "It'll depend on their interests and energy," he says.     

The flats will also have underground parking, while a portion of greenspace on the property could become a sculpture park.

As a whole, the project will blend in with the neighborhood, in terms of height and contours, he says.

Several noteworthy project funders are Wells Fargo, LISC (Local Initiatives Support Corporation), a sponsor of The Line, and the Greater Metropolitan Housing Corporation (GMHC), he says.

Additionally, the city awarded $50,000 in federal low-income tax credits to the development. It's a small allocation but it demonstrates early support for the project, he says, and will give it a competitive edge in the next application process.   

Right now Artspace is pursuing affordable-housing subordinate funds from the city, county, and state,  he says.

If those applications line up, it'll position the project to be fully funded and may allow for construction to start in early 2012, he says. Then, following 18 months of construction, the Jac Flats could be ready for leasing in June 2013.


Source: Andrew Commers, Artspace, project manager  
Writer: Anna Pratt

Marty Schirber, a remodeling contractor who lives in Northeast Minneapolis, came up with the idea of turning the nearby Hollywood Theater into a haven for jewelers after talking with several artists who told him they were looking at collocating their studios to save money.

The Hollywood Theater, which opened for movie screenings in 1935, has been vacant since it closed its doors in 1987, according to city information.

After the city bought the building in 1993, it pursued several redevelopment proposals but none came to fruition, according to city information. The city's asking price for the property is $275,000.   

Schirber, who serves on the neighborhood group's Hollywood Theater Task Force, says that the theater auditorium could become studio space, while the balcony could accommodate jewelry-making classes. The lobby could be converted into an art deco-styled jewelry store, in keeping with the theater's history, he says.

He pictures a place that's similar to the Mississippi Craft Center, which serves the Craftsmen's Guild of Mississippi and accommodates numerous artists who work in different mediums. (He happened to be visiting the Center when The Line called him.) "This place is a destination," he says. "A lot of the artists have quit their regular jobs. They have enough traffic to go full-time here."    

Jewelers could split the costs of the pricey equipment and workbenches they use by sharing studio space at the Hollywood. "It could be a guild for jewelers and a conduit for people to find artists," he says.   

Schirber has  found that the concept "resonates soundly with artists and jewelers," adding, "It's just what they need."

He estimates that conversion will cost less than a million dollars, though he's still researching the idea, including checking into possible funding sources, and a business plan for the project is still in the works.


Source: Marty Schirber, Hollywood Theater Task Force    
Writer: Anna Pratt

The local Nimbus Theatre, which turned 10 this year, will soon settle into a permanent home.

A couple weeks ago, the theater, which strives to produce thought-provoking, artistically challenging contemporary work, signed a lease for a 4,100 square foot space at 15th and Central Avenue Northeast in Minneapolis.

Nearby are antiques and stained-glass shops, an empty space once belonging to the old Teeners Theatrical supply and the Diamonds Coffee Shoppe.  

The volunteer-run theater is planning a 75-seat black-box-style auditorium with a lobby and backstage area in the raw, industrial-looking space. All told, the project will cost $100,000, according to Josh Cragun, a cofounder and co-artistic director at Nimbus, who explains that the development will unfold in a couple phases.

This week, the company is kicking off a capital campaign. Already it's received a $10,000 grant from the Metropolitan Regional Arts Council for lighting equipment while the build-out will begin pending approval of a city zoning change to allow for the theater use.  

Until now, Nimbus has relied on rental performance space at the Minneapolis Theater Garage in Uptown, with a separate office in Northeast.

But with steady growth through the years, it made economic sense for the theater to find a place of its own, says Cragun, adding that it's becoming a more permanent, rather than a production-oriented company.

When it started looking for a place a couple years ago, the company wanted to find a space that reflected its values, wherein "we could shape it and make it our own," says Cragun, adding, "It'll give us a sense of identity."

Additionally, Nimbus will have the flexibility to produce a variety of shows that are experimental or have limited runs, along with workshops, readings, and more. Outside companies will be able to rent the venue while in the future Nimbus may hire a staffer or two, Cragun says.

Nimbus's first shows in the space will be "The Balcony" by Jean Genet in February 2011 followed by "The Year of Magical Thinking" by Joan Didion in the spring.   
 

Source: Josh Cragun, Nimbus Theatre 
Writer: Anna Pratt

One of the Eastside Food Coop's objectives is to minimize its environmental impact.  

Early on, though, the food coop, opened in Northeast Minneapolis in 2003, had accrued a lot of debt, according to its general manager, Amy Fields.

While the coop wanted to invest in energy-saving infrastructure, its bills made it difficult to go there.

But it wasn't long before the coop, which is housed in an old, largely cement building in the Audubon neighborhood, underwent an eye-opening analysis of its energy use. The study showed there was plenty of room for improvement.

It pushed the coop to get creative to reduce its carbon footprint and increase efficiency. After doing some digging to find energy-saving solutions, architect Brandon Sigrist, who is a coop member, along with the local Sundial Solar Consultants, proposed a solar photovoltaic array--which converts solar radiation into electrical energy--for the coop's 12,000 square foot rooftop, Fields says.

A combination of Xcel Energy rebates, including one for Minnesota-made solar products, plus a U.S. Treasury Green Energy grant, helped make the $167,000 project doable.

The coop was able to get a cutting-edge photovoltaic solar panel array from the Bloomington-based company, TenK Solar, which specializes in the contraptions. Six rows of 18 panels with reflectors, all on tracks, will put out about 28,000 kilowatt hours a year, which accounts for between five and 10 percent of the store's electrical costs.

The system is 50 percent more productive than traditional photovoltaic systems because the inverted-V-shaped panels can handle direct sunlight. It's effective even on overcast days, Fields adds.

It'll save the coop several thousand dollars annually and decrease its carbon emissions by 20 tons a year. Over the next five years, the system, which will soon be running, will pay for itself, says Fields.  

"Part of what excites me," he adds, "is that now 3,200 [coop members] in Northeast Minneapolis own a piece of solar. Hopefully it'll open us up to more alternative energy from all of us."


Source: Amy Fields, general manager at Eastside Food Coop
Writer: Anna Pratt

The name isn't the only thing to be repurposed at the former Stasiu's bar in Northeast Minneapolis, which this week reopens as Stanley's--the English version of the original Polish name.

The bar's handsome radiators have been refurbished and repainted for new life as bases to high tables where customers' legs will dangle, says general manager Carol Hawley.

Then there are the urinals. The handsome relics reach from the floor to nearly chest height, their undulating porcelain forms harkening back to Victorian times. (Indeed, they're said to have been salvaged from Minneapolis' famed West Hotel.) Their purpose remains the same.

Those and the walls are about all of the physical Stasiu's that persists at Stanley's. Gone is the half-timbering on the exterior. Inside, the building at University and Lowry avenues was "stripped down to the studs," she says.

New street-level windows give the illusion of more room inside and out. ("It was kind of like a bunker in here," Hawley recalls.) But the building hasn't extended its footprint--a new patio to the north notwithstanding.

The crooked floor has been leveled and now holds what Hawley calls "an insanely beautiful bar." Work on a stage will be finished in time for Gospel Gossip, the first band to play in the remodeled bar. Christie Hunt, whose band bookings sparked a new scene in Stasiu's waning days, has the music schedule set into December.

A new set of stairs leads to a second floor space where construction will continue to convert it to a room available for rental for parties or, Hawley says, art exhibits. Farther north than other Northeast spots such as the Sample Room and the Northeast Social Club, which have undergone similar transformations, Stanley's is a kind of "outpost for the arts and food and beverage communities," says Hawley.

Source: Carol Hawley, Stanley's
Writer: Chris Steller