When the City of Flagstaff constructed an overpass above the railroad tracks that had divided the city, a new north-south thoroughfare opened on Fourth Street. It also opened the possibility of the revitalization of the Fourth Street Corridor shopping area.

“A lot of business owners thought the traffic flow would change and because Fourth Street has more reasonable rent, people began opening businesses there,” said Sharlene Fouser, a Fourth Street Merchant.

“Odegaards Sewing Center opened. Then the light company renovated their building. A wonderful pastry store named Caked, does cheesecake and one of the most post popular pizza places, Frateilli Pizza, renovated a space and opened a wonderful addition there. First State Bank renovated and located there as well,” Fouser said, “We have the businesses that stuck through thick and thin and were active in keeping Fourth Street alive like Flagstaff Stamp and Engraving, Heath Paint Center, Wolff Jewelry and Oak Tree Furniture.

In March, she and her husband moved their 9-year-old party store Confetti to “a perfect space,” on Fourth Street.

Indeed, things seem to be looking up for the businesses in the area and they are looking toward the city to help them take the next step.

While there is no formal Fourth Street business association, the merchants do band together to help promote their area. Their biggest concern at the moment is safety along the corridor because traffic moves a little faster through there now.

”It’s quite a long stretch, there are no crosswalks, street lighting is poor and the sidewalks are bad,” she said.

To determine how traffic moves in the area, a study is about to begin from Route 66 to Butler and from Route 66 to Cedar that should help determine better access, pedestrian safety, streetscape and beautification needs, Fouser said.

Fourth Street was part of the county prior to 1959 before it became part of the city. It had it’s own shopping area going on, said Karl Everhard, city architect. Most of the buildings were built in the 1950s and 1960s and development was somewhat uncoordinated, he said.

“We need to look at access control, traffic calming, private party and street interfaces and pedestrian safety,” he said.

He said the mission of the study will be to determine what is needed and how much money will be needed to complete the project, including beautification.

The traffic study is set to start in February or March and take between three to six months, he said.

Kim Sharp of Flagstaff Community Development says the city and chamber of commerce are very interested in working with property owners to create a vision of what Fourth Street should look like in the future.

She said some of the buildings are 50 to 60 years old and have never been renovated and many of the owners may not be interested in doing so.

Small businesses housed in some of the buildings worry if the buildings are renovated, their rents might go up, said Fouser

“The challenge is getting everyone to the table to work together to work out a plan,” Sharp said. “We need everyone to look at the bigger picture and there are many redevelopment tools we could use.”
The Flagstaff Chamber of Commerce has been a proponent in terms of improvement of the area, said Joe Galli, vice president of government affairs for the chamber.

Opening up Fourth Street has now provided a major north-south thoroughfare throughout the community, Galli said.

“This should spur development and redevelopment and we are starting to see a little of that,” he said.

Brent Schepper, co-owner of Fratelli Pizza, said they decided to open a branch of their restaurant on Fourth Street four years ago, even before the completion of the overpass in 2007.

“We saw the opportunity with the rent being lower in this part of town and that would benefit us,” Schepper said. “I’m happy with what the city is doing on their part, but there are still a lot of things that need to be done to make it more walkable.”

He said most of the buildings look like “something out of the 1970s,” the facades are not up to date and the parking lots need to be repaved and cleaned up, but on the other hand, more people are driving by.

“The traffic and people that are coming and going is definitely more. Because the city built its Aquaplex nearby, he thinks his restaurant, which has been voted best pizza in Flagstaff six years in a row, will eventually become a destination.

“It’s pretty easy to get here no matter where you’re at,” Schepper said.