Monrovia Old Town Report (5/11/17 Issue)

Brush up on the news and issues occurring in Monrovia Old Town recently.
– Courtesy photo

By Pam Fitzpatrick

Back in the days when we had more energy, I remember shifting our shop locations a number of times. This was the process: find a new space to lease; lease it; pack up location #1; move everything to location #2; open the next day.  It was usually a one-week process, with the moving part happening overnight.

No wonder it makes me crazy to wait for the empty-but-leased spots to finally open their doors in Old Town. I suspect the problem is more red tape than packing tape these days, but I do wish the new bakery (Frost) would open, as well as Copper Still Grill in the 600 block of Myrtle and the Attic Events & Home Treasures in the 300 block of Myrtle. Still no news on the replacements for Parchment (400 block) and Press Café (700 block at Paragon), but at least those spaces are taken and will be opening. We are such a small community of shops and restaurants that the loss of any one business hurts all of us — In fact, we had an interesting conversation at the MOTAB (Monrovia Old Town Merchants) meeting this morning concerning the “unbalance” in Old Town.  It could be argued that all small business owners are a bit “unbalanced,” but this morning’s discussion was about the restaurant/retail imbalance. Interestingly enough, it was the restaurants who were calling on the City to step up and lend a hand in the search for potential retailers because their business drops off without us.

Happy news this morning: we finally heard in public that our Street Fair will not be moving anywhere in the near future. That’s not to say that the plans for a potential move have been totally cancelled, but there will be open meetings and open discussions with the merchants before anything is finalized. I’m just relieved that it won’t be happening this summer!

Our Wine Walk Committee members have been having way too much fun planning our first annual Monrovia Old Town Wine Walk (which, by the way, is Saturday, August 26 from 6-9 p.m.).  Last month, the Committee attended the La Verne Wine Walk and did a bit of sampling along with “observing.”  Next month, on June 10, Glendora is having their annual wine walk, and those poor committee members have to take another field trip and do some more sampling. But, seriously, anyone who wants to check out Glendora’s wine walk in preparation for our August event, talk to Kristin Miller at Charlie’s House – she’ll give you all the details.

Some super good news: the City has $700,000 set aside for Old Town infrastructure improvements. Some of the discussed projects include improved lighting and breezeway (aka, alley) beautification. The breezeway between Merengue and Paradis Ice Cream (400 block of Myrtle, west side) which leads to Oh Mulberry Bush will be getting a facelift soon with the refurbishing of the existing airplane mural as well as a new “angel wing” mural.  Both of these are projects of our Art in Public Places Committee and will be fun photo-op sites for years to come.

In response to the growing concerns about the homeless/vagrant/resistant population in Library Park, which has been spilling over into Old Town more and more lately, the merchants received an update on the ongoing efforts to address the problem. There will be a full presentation of the MPD’s efforts at the June MOTAB meeting (June 13, 9:30 a.m. City Council Chambers) and not only are all merchants encouraged to attend, but the public is welcome as well. Also, if approved by the City, Old Town may be getting some “Real Change Meters” for donations to be directed to the Foothill Unity Center to assist with homeless issues.

More next week!

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