When we decided to renovate the Old Nichols Battery building into Amendment 21 in early 2017, we didn’t have any similar industry anchors other than The Mill. At that time, downtown, and more specifically the S.O.D.A District didn’t have any growth projections to go off of, but that didn’t stop us from moving forward with creating a prohibition-themed whisk(e)y bar downtown. Since we opened in April of 2018, we’ve had…
Thriving Downtown: A Foundation’s Point of View
The Community Foundation of Abilene exists to help donors make a lasting impact on the charitable causes that matter to them. Many of the endowment funds we manage make grants to local nonprofits, and part of our mission is to provide services to help strengthen those nonprofits. So, why do we care about a thriving downtown? A healthy downtown is a key component to a vibrant, economically-strong city as a…
Filed Under: Downtown Highlights
Create Spaces where Life Happens – 201 Mesquite
As a native Abileneian, I have fond memories of Downtown Abilene. Today I am creating new memories such as taking my grandkids to the Paramount Theatre or racing pinewood cars at a Cub Scout meeting at the 201 Event Center. Just a few years ago, I was driving down North 2nd near Mesquite when I noticed a “For Sale” sign taped to the side of an old building. On a whim,…
Filed Under: Downtown Highlights
Vagabond Pizza
Let’s take a little time hop… think back to 2011, just eight short years ago. Food trucks were scarce. We didn’t have any wineries or breweries in town. Downtown was, ahem, “lacking amenities.” Nevertheless, various folks disregarded “the way it’s always been done” and started new and exciting enterprises that now feel like the fabric of Abilene. I might be a bit biased, but I like to think Vagabond Pizza…
Filed Under: Downtown Highlights
Live, Work, Play…Building an 18-Hour Downtown
An 18 hour district. A place where people spend more than just eight hours behind a desk or two hours at a performance and then drive home. That’s what the Chamber’s Downtown Initiative is striving to create in our center city. A strong residential component is vital to fulfilling this vision. It’s why we’ve been focused over the last five months on bringing multifamily residential developers to town and why…
Filed Under: Blog
New Video Highlights Redevelopment Opportunities
A new video produced for the Downtown Abilene Initiative (Downtown ABI) highlights several properties available for redevelopment and features other successfully completed adaptive reuse projects. Noted urban explorer and documentarian Jonny Goodday recorded drone and hand-held footage, while accompanying Downtown ABI executive director Steve Dieterichs and residential housing developer Jim Sari on a tour in February. Among the locations the team visited were the West Texas Utilities power plant, the…
Filed Under: General
Director Receives Tourism Certification
Steve Dieterichs, executive director of the Abilene Chamber of Commerce Downtown Initiative, was presented his credentials as a Certified Tourism Executive (CTE) at the conclusion of the 2018 session of Travel & Tourism College, a program of the Texas Travel Industry Association (TTIA). In addition to completing the coursework, Mr. Dieterichs also completed a capstone project required for the certification designation. The project detailed his contributions to culinary tourism in…
Filed Under: General