Main Street group continues efforts

Change is sweeping across Cañon City as commercial growth and development is shifting from downtown to east Cañon City.

As new and existing businesses move to the east, efforts to revitalize a struggling downtown economy are being led by Main Street, U.S.A. Cañon City Inc.

“Downtown is failing right now,” local chapter president Bob DiRito said. “Main Street is readjusting to Cañon City moving east of town. People are moving east when they used to be in the heart of the city.

“The past 100 years has seen Cañon City totally involved in the functional aspects of a community,” DiRito said. “Grocery stores, clothing stores, hardware stores and all the other various enterprises, born of need, sprang up in our town. Now, we are facing different challenges.”

Recently, some of these mainstays have moved to the east and disemboweled the center of the community, DiRito said.

DiRito said he believes the downtown area is in need of a clear focus.

“The downtown needs to create a specific industry be it art, antiques or historical preservation,” DiRito said. “We need a new medium to base our downtown economy on be it music, art or as a historical center.”

DiRito said a good example of a successful redirection is Florence’s concentration of antique outlets on Main Street.

Main Street U.S.A. works to restore Main Streets across America to their original footprint and safeguard the history of a town’s buildings. In Cañon City, a grant was given to the Cross Music Building for restoration, and the local Main Street U.S.A. chapter is working to add other downtown businesses from Third to Eighth streets.

According to DiRito, the Cross Music Building removed a western-themed façade from the front of the structure and is working to restore the original brick. Additionally, metal fascia will be replaced along the top of the building, and paint and glass work will finish off the project.

“We need to make the city prideful of what we have and generate some community unity,” DiRito said. “We have high hopes that all the business owners will apply for grants.”

To inform business owners and the public of its goals, Main Street U.S.A. has assembled an informational booklet and buildings survey, which is for sale at various businesses in the downtown area.

The books, which sell for $25, provide information on the historic overview of downtown, areas to be involved, purpose of the project, maps and grant details.

“The availability of the information provided by this grant, coupled with the opportunity of matching funds for the refurbishing of 80 buildings in our downtown area, gives us the hope that the reluctant environment could nurture the birth of a new and more prosperous industry,” DiRito said.

As the downtown area looks back to its beginnings in the hopes of invigorating Main Street, other businesses are turning their eyes to the east and its growth potential.

New businesses, such as Sprint and the four-screen movie theater, are moving into Creek Side Shopping Center along with established businesses looking for a change of location.

According to construction foreman Anthony Pachecl, GMAC Mortgage, Fastenal, Sprint, Keller Williams and a second El Caporal restaurant named “Toreros” plan to move into the new addition to Creek Side Shopping Center.

The opening of a four screen movie theater has generated much anticipation from Cañon City residents and questions surrounding its progress have swirled around the project.

According to Pachecl, the construction crew is waiting for inspections from the city in order to wrap up the project, but the building is nearly completed. The Cañon City Building Inspector, Greg Hutchison, was not available for comment before deadline.

Pachecl said he estimates his work will need another two weeks to complete the project and there would be approximately three weeks of finish work needed from there.

“The finishing work, like carpeting, tile work and concessions, would be all that’s left to get done,” Pachecl said. “We need two weeks, and then it’s up to them how long it would take from there.”

Pachecl said he believes the theater will be ready to open for business the first week in January.

What are people saying about mortgages today:

Rates on 30-year mortgages edged down last week to a seven-month low. Mortgage-giant Freddie Mac reported Thursday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages fell to 6.3 percent, down slightly from 6.31 percent two weeks ago. It put rates at the lowest level since they were at 6.24 percent the first week of March.

Bank of Hawaii, Central Pacific Bank, Territorial Savings Bank and Wells Fargo Home Mortgages all cut their 30-year mortgage rates to 5.75 percent this week.

Most people think of a mortgage as a means to an end. After all, you buy a house, not a home loan. But a mortgage is much more than the path to homeownership. It is a financial instrument that must be managed, just like any other financial investment.