It’s been awhile since we’ve done of these. So if you haven’t been in Downtown Alpena over the last few months, here’s some of the news you may have missed:
1. The Royal Knight Movie Theater closed. About a year ago, Carmike Cinemas was purchased by AMC Theatres, who currently own our movie theaters. Earlier this month, they decided to close the Royal Knight location and combine operations into the historic State Theatre. At this point, nothing has been confirmed about the future or sale of the Royal Knight building.
2. The Marketplace also closed its doors. As of March 18, the Marketplace is closed until further notice about new ownership.
3. Alpena has a new Official Visitor Center. Tour the new building at their Grand Opening event this Friday, April 20 from 9 am- 5 pm. Located at 420 N. Second Ave., the new building will have a designated visitor center in the front and Alpena Area Convention & Visitors Bureau offices in the back.
4. C.I.A Restaurant also opened. Located at 503 N. Second Ave., C.I.A. Restaurant, or Center of Incredible Appetites, serves both breakfast foods and lunch. C.I.A. Restaurant is open every day 7 am- 3 pm.
5. Sozo Studios opened. Located on the corner of Second Ave and Park Place, Sozo Studios focuses on portraits and studio photography. Check out their website and examples of work here.
6. The DDA is hiring a summer urban design intern. The intern will spend their time between researching potential downtown design projects and light maintenance of the downtown district (pulling weeds, watering flowers, etc). The internship is a paid position and will run from March through August. View full position description and how to apply by clicking here. Applications due April 30, 2018.
7. Sunrise Suds has announced their lineup. And tickets are live. The second annual craft beer festival, organized by the Fresh Palate, is scheduled for September 29, 2018. In addition to announcing some of the brews and ciders that will be at the festival, they announced Melophobix and Paddlebots will both be bringing their funk/groove to the event.
8. St. Mary’s steeple was having some issues. Over our last snowstorm/snowpocalypse, the City closed the intersection near the historic church due to wind and snow damage to the steeple. Since then, the intersection has re-opened, but no statement has been issued about the steeple.
9. Downtown had its own March for Our Lives. Local students organized their own march for Alpena, which was held as a part of the nation-wide event on March 24. The group made its way through the downtown and finished in Culligan Plaza.
10. First Federal is merging. The bank announced that the merger will include all seven banking locations of First Federal throughout Northeast Michigan. The merger is expected to be completed later this year. Read the full press release by clicking here.
11. Biggby Coffee announced they will opening this May. The announcement came yesterday on the Biggby Coffee-Alpena Facebook page. The franchise will be located at 224 E. Chisholm St.
Oh, and there was snow. Lots of snow. If you were in hibernation mode missed it, here’s what downtown looked like.
That’s certainly not everything that’s happened downtown over the last few months.
News that we missed? Drop us a line below.
Blog Downtown Alpena is written by Anne Gentry. Follow the blog on instagram @blogdowntownalpena and on Facebook.
Blog Downtown Alpena 