Brown Street gets a makeover

By Cindy Landrum  

OCTOBER 11, 2010 2:52 p.m. (0)

Brown Street has an identity crisis.

Most Greenville residents don’t know where it is, even though it is just off Main Street in the upper end of Greenville’s downtown, said Gary Selvaggio, one of the co-owners of Brown Street Jazz Club.

An improvement project started last week is designed to give the Brown Street district its own signature look, increase pedestrian traffic and make the area more attractive to new restaurants and retail businesses.

“We want to put Brown Street back on the map,” said Trent Nettels, one of Selvaggio’s partners in the jazz club. “We want this area to stand out.”

It doesn’t now.

Although Brown Street is a two-way street between East Coffee and East North streets, it acts like a business alley, said Jason Miller, the city’s senior civil engineer.

“Our goal is to create a pedestrian-scale place,” he said.

Plans call for on-street dining, Miller said. That will be accomplished by widening the sidewalk on one side of the street to 12 feet.

There will also be some on-street parking, he said.

The project also calls for replacing underground utilities and storm water drains as well as landscaping and new street lighting.

City workers are doing storm water drainage work during the first phase of the project, Miller said. That part should be completed by mid-November.

Then beginning in January, work will begin on streetscaping. The work should take about eight months.

Plans call for the sidewalk to look like piano keys.

The idea is to give the area a feeling like Printers Alley in Nashville.

“Printers Alley has restaurants and nightclubs,” said Miller, “It’s got an unique feel but you’d miss it without the bookends there.

Selvaggio said he’d push for archways to mark each end of Brown Street.

The project, along with work that was just completed on South Laurens Street between Washington Street and McBee Avenue, is designed to extend downtown off Main Street, said Mary Douglas Hirsch, the city’s downtown development manager.

Selvaggio said once the Brown Street District becomes known, he expects retailers and restaurants to want to locate in the area.

Kettels said increased pedestrian traffic might drive the revitalization of key buildings, including a large building on Brown Street that has been vacant for quite a while.

J.R. Tuscano, owner of DT’s Tavern, said he plans to expand his business to coincide with the completion of the project. He said he plans to open for lunch and also plans a rooftop bar.

“We’re expecting great things for the Brown Street area,” Selvaggio said. Kettels said an improvement project planned for Piazza Bergamo would also spur activity and growth on that end of downtown.