ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, April 14, 1997 TAG: 9704140124
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: MARTINSVILLE
SOURCE: RON NIXON THE ROANOKE TIMES
In a city where jobs had evaporated and stores closed for the new mall, the downtown is making a comeback, with one family getting much of the credit.
At lunchtime a small crowd fills Arts Etc., a frame and coffee shop on Church Street, the main thoroughfare.
While some people wait in line to order a bagel or cup of coffee, others sit at the tables engaged in conversation. Others browse through the store, looking at the artwork.
For Martinsville residents, Arts Etc., is a welcome addition to "uptown," as they call the downtown area.
Six months ago the store was a dilapidated building. Paper covered the windows. The inside walls had deteriorated and the roof leaked.
"One day last year we went by on a rainy day to take a look at the building and it was raining more inside than it was outside," said Krista Vannoy, director of the Martinsville Uptown Revitalization Association. "It was really depressing."
Several other buildings were also run down and empty: so many that the local Realtors Association held a mural painting contest for grade-school students to cover the vacant storefronts.
Today, mainly because of one family, the Martins, downtown has experienced a steady growth in new businesses. Over the past 3 1/2 years the family has bought 18 buildings downtown, renovated 14 and leased them to stores. The other four are still being renovated, though tenants have been lined up.
In the past six months, an average of three or four new businesses have opened per month, according to figures from the revitalization group. Since July, 33 jobs have been created, the figures show.
Traffic and downtown shoppers have also increased, Vannoy said. " I used to walk down the street to go to lunch and I'd be the only person on the street," she said. " Now I can stop and talk to people."
She credits the Martin family - mainly Fred Martin Sr. and his son, Tim: "The Martins really stepped up to the plate to assist in revitalizing the area. They've helped our occupancy rate and put new life into the community."
The Martins began their revitalization efforts in 1993, when Fred Martin and Associates, which has been in the furniture business 37 years, purchased an old clothing store on Church Street and turned it into a store called the Showroom.
"That's when we began to discuss ways to help revive the downtown area," said Tim Martin, the youngest son of Fred Martin Sr., owner of Fred Martin and Associates. Tim is also president of the Uptown Business Association, an organization the Martins set up to promote business downtown.
"In some of the buildings we had to do complete renovations," Tim Martin said. "We had to do floors, wiring, heating - everything."
The family won't reveal how much it has spent to renovate downtown, but Vannoy put the figure at more than $1 million. Tim Martin said the family spent $93,000 on one building.
Some of the renovated buildings house one business, while others have several small shops.
Gladrags, an upscale women's clothing store, opened two weeks ago. The Gallery II, a restaurant and catering service, opened Friday.
"We're trying to attract specialty shops," Tim Martin said: "Businesses that have that individual touch."
Some businesses have even relocated downtown from the Liberty Fair Mall.
Jennifer Eskew, who owns Arts Etc., said she moved from the mall into one of the Martins' renovated buildings because of the "cozy atmosphere."
"The mall was OK," she said in between serving custumers, "but lots of people in town didn't go to the mall and that's a clientele that we were missing."
Other businesses moved into the renovated structures to expand their operations. Charms and Jackies, an ethnic clothing and hair products store, relocated into one from across the street.
Bob Johnson, who owns Moniques, a women's clothing store, relocated his store from Henry County to downtown Martinsville.
"The guts that these people [the Martins] have to invest time and money into efforts to revitalize uptown is remarkable," Johnson said. " I don't see anyone else doing that."
Customers also welcome the revitalization. "We've needed this so much," said Ellen Crandell, a native of Pittsburgh. "Now we don't have to jump in the car to go to Roanoke or Greensboro."
"I think what's being done is wonderful," Ann Nichols said as she shopped at Gladrags. "This is as good as going to Roanoke to shop at Frances Kahn."
Fred Martin said he was motivated to help revitalize Martinsville after driving through and looking at the dilapidated buildings. "I was born and raised here in Martinsville. My children were born and raised here. It made me sick to drive down the street and see windows painted over and the roofs of buildings leaking."
He said downtown Martinsville had once been vibrant but began to decline in the late 1980's when Liberty Fair Mall was built. Fourteen stores left downtown to go to the mall, and shoppers soon followed.
The decline was exacerbated by the closing of several downtown businesses and layoffs by Martinsville's largest employers.
Globmans, a family-owned department store established in 1915, went out of business in 1990. American Furniture, another family-owned business, started shrinking in the early '80s, going from 10 plants to one. The Sara Lee plant closed two years ago, leaving hundreds of people out of work. In the past few years, the DuPont plant in Martinsville has gone from 5,000 employees to about 600.
Fred Martin said a great deal of work remains. The Martins have developed a 10-year plan for revitalizing downtown and are working with city officials and other merchants to attract businesses, he said.
For their work, Fred Sr. and Tim Martin were recently named Citizens of the Year by the Martinsville Police Department. Both said they were honored, but added that the revitalization of Martinsville was a team effort.
"We are just one of the spokes in the wheel," Tim said.
He praised citizens groups such as the Gateway Streetscape Foundation, which has led beautification efforts downtown. He had special praise for the work of Vannoy and the Martinsville Uptown Revitalization Association.
The association was instrumental in getting Martinsville into the Virginia Main Street program, which provides architectural and other services to stimulate economic vitality in downtown commercial districts. The revitalization group has also arranged a low-interest loan program with local banks that targets investments in building improvements, expansion and new businesses in the downtown area.
Fred Martin said renovating the buildings is only half the family's work. They also want to restore a sense of history to Martinsville. "It will never be the way it was when I was growing up," he said. "But we hope to have a thriving main business district for our children."
LENGTH: Long : 129 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: KELLY HAHN JOHNSON THE ROANOKE TIMES. 1. Fred Martin,by CNBhis son, Tim, and other family members have led public and private
efforts to bring more stores to downtown Martinsville. 2. Sandy and
Scott Whitlow view ``uptown'' from Arts Etc., a frame and coffee
shop operating in a building that six months ago was dilapidated. 3.
Trish Pendleton (left) and Karen Warlitner have coffee by a print of
artist Vincent Van Gogh last week in Martinsville's Arts Etc. shop.
color. Graphic: Color map by RT.