Downtown Brattleboro: Cooking on all four burners

Vermont Business Magazine, Nov 01, 2001 by Hanig, Nelle

Brattleboro's downtown is becoming increasingly vibrant. Storefronts that were vacant just a year and a half ago are filling up with cafes, restaurants and a growing home furnishings market. To date, just three storefronts remain vacant in downtown and only one of those is on Main Street. Downtown Brattleboro's reputation is also growing as the place to hear live music. There were many weeks throughout the summer and fall where jazz could be heard in downtown venues Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings.

Strengthening arts and entertainment in downtown is a crucially important component of the revitalization effort. The Brattleboro Arts Initiative (BAI) is working in partnership with the Preservation Trust of Vermont to raise sufficient funds to purchase the Latchis Theater and Hotel in downtown. Their vision is to turn the Latchis complex into a performing and visual arts center for the region. They have already met with great success in their fundraising efforts but still have a ways to go. The community is excited at the prospect of having an arts center in downtown Brattleboro and is solidly behind BAI's efforts and their goal.

The Robert H. Gibson River Garden has also brought a lot of new energy to downtown. A most unique place, this indoor garden atrium opens to the sky while glass front and rear facades draw in the bustle of Main Street and the serenity of the River. The River Garden provides a gathering place in the heart of downtown, a place to relax and enjoy the views, have a cup of coffee and a bite to eat from several cafes housed in the space, read the newspaper, sit and talk with friends, access public bathrooms (the first in downtown Brattleboro) and enjoy various arts offerings from concerts and puppet shows to art exhibits and dance workshops.

During the warmer months, visitors to the space took advantage of its outdoor terrace overlooking the River and Mount Wantastiquet. Building A Better Brattleboro (BABB) is a non-profit organization that is dedicated to strengthening the vitality of downtown Brattleboro. It owns and manages the River Garden. A few spaces at the River Garden are still available to lease and interested parties can contact BABB for information.

The former Dunkin Donuts site is another project that BABB is taking on in the hopes that it can facilitate its transformation into something that enhances the downtown experience. The organization is in the process of seeking grants that will help to fund the acquisition and redevelopment of the site. BABB's vision is for a very substantial rehabilitation of the building on the back portion of the site, possibly for a restaurant, and the redevelopment of the front portion of the property into a park/plaza, along the lines of a town square.

While few vacant storefronts remain, upper floor office vacancies are becoming a problem. Lyon Travel has just consolidated its offices in new digs on Putney Road, leaving behind many thousand square feet of vacant office space in downtown. BABB has just completed a business recruitment package that it will use to attract businesses for upper floor office space as well as storefronts. Commercial and industrial property owners, Realtors and other organizations involved in attracting new businesses to Brattleboro are welcomed to use this recruitment tool.

Those interested in receiving a package for review and/or to use in their recruitment efforts should contact BABB at 2574886 or babb@sover.net.