Downtown:
Welcome signs of life on the streets of
Longview
LONGVIEW
NEWS-JOURNAL
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Here's the good
news: Parking was a little hard to come
by in downtown Longview last Friday
night.
The cause for the
congestion was the Live Music, Fine Arts
Concert Series at the Longview Museum of
Fine Arts on Tyler Street.
Parking was not
impossible, but late arrivals found
themselves walking a block or two to get
to the museum - an experience one rarely
sees in downtown Longview after the banks
and the courthouse close.
Things are
changing in our city's center. A few
years ago, an upscale bistro and
adjoining club opened on Tyler Street,
bringing a touch of nightlife to downtown
Longview.
Dante Hahn, a
young entrepreneur who has begun
acquiring and rejuvenating downtown
buildings, has leased space to a Japanese
sushi restaurant and says a nightclub is
in the works next door. Across the
street, another club is moving into the
old Texas Furniture building.
Downtown Longview
is still taking baby steps and traffic is
once again hobbled by a street
construction project, but we continue to
see reason for hope that our city's hub
is moving into a new, livelier phase.
The concert series
at the art museum should help in the
effort to breathe new life into downtown
Longview. In doing so, it will help the
community keeps its toe in the resurgence
of interest in quality live music.
It's important to
note and to appreciate that many of the
changes coming in downtown Longview are
thanks to the initiative and the drive of
young members of our community, yet they
are travelling a path first blazed by the
people who came before them.
Jerry Russell, a
long-time advocate for downtown Longview
who closed his women's clothing store
more than a year ago, was in the crowd at
the first LMFA Concert. He said he was
thrilled to see the new life downtown.
The concert fits well with the vision he
had as he worked with city and business
leaders to shape the district's future.
With support from
the old guard, the new wave of downtown
enthusiasts will have a good foundation
to build on. We look forward to seeing
the results.
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