Activity in Grand Center

The Intersection of Art and Life has been off to a great start this year.  Kota Fire Grill is open and with the same ownership as Triumph Grill I have faith that it will outlast its location’s recently previous tenants.  Around the corner at 3526 Washington, a new hair salon, Salon Edge Hair and Tanning is open, with a Jewelry Store, Grand Center Jewelers, and a Computer Repair shop, Virtual Technologies.

3526 Washington

This retail space is a great addition to Grand Center and I wish these businesses success.  Luckily they will be able to take advantage of added traffic from the City Diner @ The Fox which although behind schedule (what isn’t) appears to be well on it’s way to opening.  Today I saw this public announcement about a neon sign for the new diner.

Extremely exciting.  Another recent move to Grand Center was made by the Veterans Affiars Dermitology Clinic to the retail space in the Continental Life Building on Olive.  Today when I went to take a picture of this new office I found an even better picture @ Grand and Olive.

Cobblestones and Streetcar Track peeking through the street on Grand and Olive

The history of Grand Center is its greatest asset in my opinion and I think this is one pothole the city should not repair.

Also underway is work on the new location of Sweetie Pie’s on Delmar.  I’m very glad to see that the ugly facade is being removed to expose the brick building.

New Sweetie Pie's

Seeing the work here actually started is really great, particularly so soon after the initial announcement.  I hope we see the same kind of swift action getting work started on renovating the Beaux Arts Building (Carter Carburetor Corporation @ 711 N. Grand) to be the home of Grand Center’s new Arts oriented Charter School (the Grand Center Arts Academy)

I am very happy to hear about this new Grand Center Development and think that another school in the area (there are already at least 2 in Grand Center) will be great.  2010 is looking pretty nice for Grand Center and I can’t wait to see these latest projects reach completion.

Grand Center Restaurants

Today I noticed on Sauce Magazine’s blog that a new Restaurant is to take over for Reggie’s Backstage at 522 North Grand in Grand Center.  This would be the third restaurant to move into this location since I was really introduced to Grand Center about 3 or 4 years ago.  I remember when the Tuxedo room opened (Late 2006) it seemed to be such a great thing for the neighborhood.

The Tuxedo Room

It was one less vacant storefront on a stretch of Grand that should be full of life.  Unfortunately, The Tuxedo Room did not last long.  I ate there once and was very unimpressed with the food (apparently I wasn’t the only one), so when it closed I hoped that was the reason.  Then Reggie’s Backstage moved in and seemed to be doing alright.  Their operating schedule was still based almost solely off that of the Fox Theatre, but the Fox really does bring most of the traffic into the area.  When I saw a sign on the door this summer saying that it was “temporarily closed” I wanted to stay optimistic but couldn’t help but worry.  Did Reggie not learn from the mistakes of Mr. Tuxedo?  Today I did some Google searches and found that Reggie’s had planned to close for 3 months and then reopen as an R&B venue but sadly something must have prevented this from happening. I hope the St. Louis Rhythm & Blues Preservation Society can still accomplish their goals and would love to see them reappear in Grand Center.

Grand Center Spring 2008

Luckily there are more optimistic St. Louisans willing to give this excellent location another chance and I wish Kota Wood Fire Grill success.  I hope they keep the Reggie’s Backstage sign up (unless they get a new one of their own!), but it is sad to see that the sign was only relevant for a short amount of time.  I think this will be a great opportunity for Grand Center to really take off.  The renovation of the Woolworth’s building appears to be a huge success and the murals on the Metropolitan Building really make the block seem more friendly.

Murals on the Metropolitan Building

In addition to Kota opening up, we also have The City Diner at the Fox which should be open by the end of the year in the Humboldt Building.  These new restaurants on Grand, along with delicious anchor of the block that is The Best Steakhouse, will provide for a diverse and delicious variety of dining options.  Now all we need is something to replace W. M. Shakespeare’s Gastropub in the location formerly occupied by Gary’s Restaurant.  Maybe another Art Gallery?

Update:  Grand Center now has a website for its restaurants!  But where is it listing the Best Steak House?