Spring has finally arrived in downtown Alpena. The last of snow piles, gone; the strands of Christmas lights, taken down; the river, unfrozen.

Spring has arrived—  as poet ee cummings says, with its hands “carefully to and fro moving New and Old things, while people stare carefully moving a perhaps fraction of flower here placing an inch of air there…”

But it’s not just the hands of spring that are moving new and old things around. Going through the streets, we can see the changes on every corner: new construction on The Owl, the expansion of The Fresh Palate in The Center Building, the opening of new salons, the reopening of Blue Phoenix Books, the expansion of Harborside Cycles, the construction of the new riverside hotel, new construction on Chisholm and 4th, to name a few. And the change doesn’t stop here. Progress is seen everyday.  Alpena DDA is devoted to help drive this development in downtown Alpena, with programs ranging from Facade Grants to business support.

While winter may have seemed a quiet time for downtown, it has been anything but. The people that make up downtown Alpena have been working, planning, and creating all winter long.

Perhaps it is the spring that allows us to see and to notice the fruit of their work, as the warmer weather allows us to stroll, to bike, and to linger, instead of hurriedly going from one warm place to the next.

And so too does spring bring this new venture: a blog devoted to all things downtown Alpena. Not just a guide of things to do or things to see— of which there are many— but a way to linger on the stories, the people, the places, and the events of our ever-changing downtown. Whether you visit us everyday, or whether you’re visiting us for the first time, I hope this blog allows you to learn and to linger on what makes us uniquely downtown Alpena. I hope you come back again soon.

Blog Downtown Alpena is created and written by Anne Gentry in conjunction with the Alpena Downtown Development Authority. Have an idea for a potential story or want to see your event covered? E-mail anne_gentry@alumni.brown.edu.