Business owners: Downtown revitalization more than just the Colonial

LACONIA — Restoration of the century-old Colonial Theatre is often portrayed as a potential catalyst for revitalizing the city’s core, but some successful local entrepreneurs want to get the word out that downtown is open for business right now.

Mayor Ed Engler told the City Council Monday night that an additional city financial commitment of $900,000 will be needed for the project. Proponents are also waiting to hear if $4.9 million in federal New Market tax credits will arrive to complete the financing package and finally get the project off the ground.

Breanna Henderson, owner of the Polished & Proper barber shop on Main Street, recently moved her business to a larger space a few doors down from her old location. Customers fill her waiting area on most days.

“I’m in a position where my business is going forward whether anything happens with the Colonial or not,” Henderson said Wednesday. “I do as a whole understand others’ frustrations, those who have empty storefronts adjacent to their business or depend on an aesthetic to attract people to their establishment.”

Waiting to exhale

The $15 million Colonial project was first proposed four years ago, but the complicated nature of the financing package and higher-than-expected bids have led to a variety of delays.

If the city were to back out now, it could lose most of the $1.4 million it invested in purchasing the theater. That’s the only money it has spent, although it has agreed to an eventual commitment of $4.2 million, not including the $900,000 discussed Monday.

Henderson said she thinks city leaders will continue to pursue it. 

“I don't think they feel as though they have a lot of choice,” she said. “They better go all in. If it fails, it’s going to suck, and if they back out now, it will suck.”

She said the Colonial refurbishment is sometimes referred to as the “shot in the arm” downtown needs.

“I don’t think it will be the shot in the arm that they think it will be, but it will do a lot of good,” Henderson said. “I think it was a great idea and I think the initial announcement of the project removed a major negativity the city had in its own stomach about its downtown.

“Just the concept that there was hope for that building kick-started a lot of great things, a lot of new businesses that have grown. Unfortunately, the reality had to hit. It was not all sunshine and rainbows.”

The enthusiasm people had for the project was tempered by the lack of actual construction.

“It’s kind of like putting out a sign and then not opening for six months,” Henderson said.

Proponents might not have realized initially just how complicated it would be to revitalize the theater.

“There was an overabundance of optimism and not quite enough realism,” she said. “It was great to offer this project and this hope, but you can't oversell and underdeliver. It’s best to undersell and overdeliver.”

Positive developments

She sees positive downtown developments even as the theater project has lagged, including the popularity of Wayfarer coffee shop and Local Provisions butcher shop.

MC Cycle & Sport bicycle shop is also enjoying success, she said. The Fit Focus athletic club opened in 2017 and has been attracting customers. The downtown area also includes jewelry stores, banks, sit-down restaurants, a shoe store and a bakery, among other businesses.

“I’m always optimistic,” Henderson said. “Whether the Colonial succeeds or fails, downtown will move forward.”

She noted that major improvements are being made at the downtown Landmark Hotel and at the Melcher and Prescott Insurance building on Main Street.

Burrito Me

Reuben Bassett owns the Burrito Me restaurant in the old train station downtown and is a commercial real estate agent. He acknowledges that there is plenty of open space in downtown buildings, but rejects the notion that the area is “struggling.”

“I’ve seen it fluctuate. There’s a lot of space available, but that’s due to different factors,” he said. “For me, I’m doing well.”

Some of the open space involves issues with landlords, while other buildings are overpriced, he said. Others are older and require large investments to upgrade.

The largest open space downtown is at 653 Main St. Once home to a Masonic Temple, the building has 40,000 square feet and is on the market for $1.39 million. It was formerly listed for sale at $1.67 million, is appraised at $738,800 and was purchased in 2000 for $275,000.

Also for sale downtown is the former Evangelical Baptist Church at 12 Veterans Square, which was home to the Holy Grail Restaurant and Pub before it went out of business. The price is listed at $975,000, and it is assessed at $580,000.

In all, there is more than 100,000 square feet of space downtown for sale or lease, including a number of empty storefronts.

“When you talk about empty storefronts, that becomes the focus, rather than on the thriving businesses,” said Bassett. “That leads people to have a perception of Laconia that simply isn't true.

“You see businesses opening in surrounding towns and I’d be willing to bet good money they would do better in Laconia.”

He applauds the City Council for supporting the Colonial Theatre project, but said more attention needs to be paid to parking issues, long-term planning for downtown, and finding a way to better promote the area.

He pointed to Littleton, a town in northern New Hampshire that has done a good job with economic development.

"We have more natural resources, more population densities, more reason to drive here for tourism, and yet they are perceived to be beating us,” Bassett said. “Part of that is perception.

“We need to be promoting ourselves from the top down. We’ve had the teacher of the year, the principal of the year, yet the Laconia school system is thought of as lesser.”

Downtown cobbler

Jim Daubenspeck, owner of Daub’s Cobbler Shop on Canal Street downtown, said shops that once operated near the Colonial Theatre were closed in anticipation of the project. That hurt his foot traffic.

He would like to see the downtown area spruced up, including the front of the theater.

“Brush the hair, put some lipstick on the pig,” he said. “Fix up the sills, anything to show progress is being made.”