Author Archives: Chris
4th Avenue Theatre mural project
August 2nd, 2010
The 4th Avenue Theatre is the iconic downtown building, located in the heart of historic 4th Avenue. The Theatre currently lacks a tenant and fell victim to vandalism over the past winter. In order to help put a brighter face on this icon of downtown until a new tenant can be found for the building, Anchorage Downtown Partnership, Ltd. worked with local photographers and the University of Alaska to compile historic photos of the Theatre and 4th Avenue that could be blown up into larger than life murals covering the previously boarded-up doors and windows. Read more →
Marketing & customer appreciation in one!
February 1st, 2010
The following example, taken from our good friends at Snow City Cafe, shows a relatively simple way to motivate customers during the slow winter months and show appreciation for your downtown neighbors:
Take a page out of the Snow City book and see what kind of neighborly promotions you can cook up for your business.
Wings ‘N Things returns to downtown!
October 22nd, 2009
They closed their doors abruptly in 2007 but have since returned to downtown — and in an equally quick fashion!
Wings ‘N Things, the perennial favorite for connoisseurs of spicy wings, was founded by Joe and Teresa Connelly in the mid-1980s. These deep-fried wings have seared the taste buds of countless wing fanatics over the years, and their departure from downtown was a real loss for our hungry community.
But as luck would have it, they returned to downtown in a more central location on 6th Avenue across from Town Square!
Cake!
October 10th, 2009
Soon you will be able to have your cake and eat it too! Opening next to the 4th Avenue Theatre soon…
Downtown In the Spotlight
September 30th, 2009
Be sure to check out Larry Restalrig-Logan’s article “Day Tripin’ in Anchorage, Alaska” from Jetsetting Magazine, you’re bound to recognize many of the places – and people – he writes about.
And the chilling story from by Wayne Mergler about a familiar Downtown landmark entitled “Letter From AK: The Haunted Bookshop Revisited.”
And finally, an intoxicating story by NPR’s Annie Feidt entitled “Craft Beer In A Can? A Gutsy Move Is Paying Off.”
Outside advertising done right
August 28th, 2009
First it was the great big AT&T advertisement with the turbo powered kayak. Now the 5th Avenue Mall has replaced that ad with its own outside the giant building along 5th Avenue between C & D Streets.
Clever ad featuring a mash-up of classic fashion and classic Alaska.
It’s great to see the large exterior walls of the 5th Avenue Mall better utilized. The faux windows have never really been all that impressive, to me at least. I think this new ad gives the building a touch of class. I can’t wait to see what the building looks like when the days get shorter and they fire up the exterior lights.
Just when you think you’ve seen them all
August 14th, 2009
Duke Russell is the iconic contemporary Alaskan artist well known for his paintings and commercial work throughout our city. From beautiful paintings of downtown hotels, to outside paintings at the Bicycle Shop, to poignant portraits of people in our urban mall, just about everyone has seen a Duke Russell painting at some point during their visit or residency in our city.
There’s one Russell original that I had never seen before: on the wall of Senator Johnny Ellis’s office in Downtown Anchorage. This comedic piece depicts people leaving a performance at the PAC, snow melting in Town Square, and misguided skateboarders. It’s quite humorous. If you ever have an occasion to visit the Downtown Anchorage office of Senator Ellis, take a minute or two to discover the details of this classic Russell masterpiece:
E Street FINALLY open
July 31st, 2009
Well, it may be a year behind schedule, but the construction along E Street is finally done. The construction crews are working on a few last minute items, but the barricades are gone and cars are traveling down E Street again. To celebrate the completion of E Street, F Street and the Town Square remodel, ADP will be hosting an event called Renovation Celebration on Friday, September 4th from 12 noon – 6:00pm. Stay tuned for more details.
F Street Canopies
June 25th, 2009
The new canopies running from the Dena’ina Center to the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts are almost complete. While they don’t look like much right now, people will be loving these things on rainy & snowy days when they’ve got to run between the Dena’ina Center and other parts of downtown — provided those “other parts” are north of the Center and off of F Street.
E Street open again and the X-mas card
December 13th, 2008
Well, it didn’t look like they were going to do it, but the Municipality has opened E Street between 5th and 6th Avenues for the winter.
E Street, as you recall, was one of the streets getting a makeover this past summer with new pedestrian amenities and – most importantly – heating elements to keep the sidewalks ice-free. The project was not completed, however, before the first snow fall, so they had to fence it off and shut it down for the winter.
Luckily, the city was able to get it opened back up so that people no longer have to drive down to B Street before being able to turn north off of 6th Avenue. It’s only one car width wide and it’s not paved, but opening E Street is really a smart thing to do for getting around downtown over the winter:
And, in related news, we recently received a Christmas card from CRW Engineers, part of the team that worked on the design of the E Street improvements. I got a chuckle out of it:
And the inside:
