by Dr. Charles Urdy

Historic Restoration, Music Celebration Come to the Eastside

Listening to elder Austinites (I guess I qualify as one of them!) talk about the old days, it's easy to envision the East 11th and 12th Street corridor as the heart of a once vital and healthy community. ARA's Redevelopment Plan is the blueprint for bringing back the kind of small businesses, entertainment venues and beautiful homes that once thrived along 11th and 12th Streets. And, after countless delays caused by conflicting agendas and the need to convince the private sector to invest in East Austin, we are poised to break ground on the restoration of the Haehnel Building (a.k.a. Shorty's Bar).

We chose to begin the revitalization of the corridor with Shorty's for several reasons. Like the Victory Grill, Charlie's Playhouse, the Harlem Theater, Huston-Tillotson and Anderson High School, Shorty's evokes a multitude of memories for East Austinites. It has gone through a number of name and operational changes throughout the years. I ve talked to folks who remember it as a grocery store, a shoe shine parlor, a brothel (we re talking real history here) as well as a neighborhood bar where you could go get a beer and listen to the blues. The building was built about 1875, so it celebrates, along with Huston-Tillotson, 125 years. As we acknowledge the past, we also greet the future. ARA has signed a long-term lease with Balcones Recycling a business known for its civic responsibility and respectful community involvement to locate their worldwide corporate offices in the building.

In keeping with the community's desire to see East 11th Street reemerge as a family-oriented retail and entertainment district, ARA has teamed with Harold McMillan to produce the 12th annual Austin Jazz and Arts Festival right across the street from the Haehnel Building at the Victory Grill. The festival features a variety of national and local blues, jazz, gospel and world music. There will be a supervised children's activity area, vendors, information tables and of course, good food. We ve made arrangements for folks to be cool (as possible) and comfortable and we re looking forward to a kind of, well family reunion. Everyone involved in the planning process has worked hard (you should have seen the ARA board members and community volunteers like Ada Hardin and Susan Smith out clearing the lot last week!) and we all deserve a party. With appropriate ceremony and respect for the significance of how far we ve come against sometimes formidable odds, we ll hold our Groundbreaking Ceremonies kicking off the restoration of Shorty's at noon on Saturday, the 16th. And then, we re bringing the music back home, where it belongs.

It's a beginning, a significant beginning. Over the next couple of years, we plan to move steadily forward to rebuild the kind of community that our neighbors say they want the kind of community that once thrived along the corridor.

Most of the neighborhood folks who participated in a number of surveys about how they'd like to see the area developed envisioned 11th Street as a sort of village square, complete with coffee shops, bookstores, entertainment/restaurant operations, a dry cleaners, laundromat, office buildings and grocery store. Our survey participants and professional consultants cited mixed-use residential/retail and professional offices offering the services of doctors, lawyers, financial services, and perhaps even a bed and breakfast as a blueprint for 12th Street. As services are brought into the area, in-town housing will increase, bringing more families and financial stability to the area. There is a need for affordable housing, of course, but also a desire for more upscale homes that would attract back into the community professionals who left, looking for the types of homes their increased income could command.

This kind of expanded neighborhood village preserves the area's cultural and historic heritage while inviting planned growth. It allows the corridor to be linked to the Capitol, the State Cemetery and other historic sites in a way that attracts tourism to the area. Several artists and art dealers have expressed interest in locating in the area, adding a fine arts component that will further enhance the cultural emphasis of the corridor.

Everyone wants to live in a community where they feel safe and secure, have access to readily available goods and services, jobs and economic opportunities, attractive and affordable housing, and quality educational institutions. What makes all of this possible in any community, is an informed an involved citizenry. In fact, without active neighbors who take the time to stay abreast of neighborhood politics, none of this is even possible.

So, for the entertainment as well as the education, for remembering the good old days as well as bringing in the new, join us this weekend and celebrate what once was and what will be.

[Dr. Charles Urdy, former Mayor Pro-Tem, is the President of the Austin Revitalization Authority Board of Directors.]

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