A "Train" Story

Across the United States, cities are looking inward, revitalizing historic downtowns. Denton is lucky: Lively music venues, restaurants, coffeehouses, art galleries and boutique shops already surround the Courthouse-on-the-Square downtown along with everyday barbers, banks and bookstores.

And as of the summer of 2011, the A-train will make its way into Denton from the Dallas suburbs, opening up a creative corridor along Hickory Street. It will connect historic Denton to a new zone for eating, playing and living.

Denton attracts thousands of tourists each year for events such as the Denton Arts & Jazz Festival in the summer, the Arts Antiques & Autos Extravaganza in the fall, and now the 35 Conferette, an offshoot of Austin’s South by Southwest. Even with so much to offer, Denton lacked an official entertainment district – until now. Historic downtown Denton, meet the new Hickory Street, the Arts Corridor.

One blueprint for Denton’s new zone is taking shape, appropriately enough, in the immaculately preserved Mercantile Building downtown – one of the city’s great old structures. Brandon Martino, a young professional with a baby face and a passion for development, met Lee Ramsey, the man with the plan, five years ago. Inside the homey offices of The Martino Group and Ramsey’s company, Links Construction, Hickory Street is changing with the help of VERUS Realty. The Square, with its courthouse from 1896, is where people want to congregate, says Lee and their Hickory Street Project is aimed at “increasing the value of what we have.” The three companies believe the A-train, a regional line built by the Denton County Transportation Authority (DCTA), will prove a catalyst for growth downtown – without destroying the old. The 21-mile rail line, which parallels I-35, hooks up with Dallas’ regional rail in Carrollton for commuters going back and forth into Dallas – or Dallas residents eager to sample downtown Denton’s music and arts scene. “We’re passionate about downtown, and it’s fun work for us because you get to feel like you’re helping to create something,” says the CEO of VERUS, Greg Johnson.

Once in Denton, rail riders will cross the A-train tracks at the new Downtown Denton Transit Center and walk west toward downtown, past the Center for Visual Arts and the Firefighters’ Museum. “Cities everywhere are trying to build their own downtown. They build these downtowns and try and make them look old, but we’ve got ours,” says Kim Phillips, vice president of the Denton Convention and Visitors Bureau. “It’s probably one of the most exciting up-and-coming projects in Denton right now.” The 5-foot-something marketer is crazy about Denton. If Denton had a color, she’d bleed it. “The culture, the entertainment, who we are as a community – our heartbeat is already strong. What the Arts Corridor is going to do is enhance the image,” she says. Last year, the Denton Community Theatre moved its rehearsals, theater school and alternative shows into the Black Box Performing Arts Center on East Hickory.

Along Hickory, new restaurants have popped up in redeveloped buildings: Andaman Thai Restaurant, Ramen Republic, Chef Tim Love’s Love Shack and Cellar 22 Wine & Cigar Bar. Nearby, the Martino and Links family designed the Hickory Street Lofts for what they call the “eat, play, live” aspect of downtown, adding Weinberger’s Deli Restaurant beneath the development. “What we want to have is the right mix of residential and retail. The 311 Lofts are a great example of intelligent urbanism,” says Greg. Another North Texas favorite, Mellow Mushroom, is opening on Hickory, too.

Up Hickory Street around the Square, meanwhile, old Denton is doing just fine. People are wandering in and out of Beth Marie’s Old Fashioned Ice Cream & Soda Fountain, The Abbey Inn, Bumble Beads and Mad World Records. Bob Moses, co-owner of Beth Marie’s, has been a business owner on the Square for more than 12 years. As part of the Downtown Task Force, he embraces the change. Space around the Square is already at a premium; downtown needs to expand. “Quite a bit of effort is being put into play to try and keep the personality of Denton the way that it is,” says Bob.

At the Convention and Visitor Bureau, Kim’s fast talk is a sign of her excitement about the arrival of the A-train and the development of the Hickory Street Arts Corridor. She describes it as a “good paradigm change” for the city. “It’s a catalyst for discovering – and rediscovering – Denton.”

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