Artisan corridor

Dec 01, 2008 (Mail Tribune - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- ARUKF | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- Dotted with relics of bygone eras, plans that didn't pan out and monuments to a seismic shift away from a natural resource-based economy, the one-time commercial spine of Central Point slowly withered away for decades.

Mom-and-pop restaurants came and went, along with other small ventures that failed to catch fire.

The old Rogue Creamery, with a famed past but little ambition for the future, was smack in the middle of the decay heading into the middle of 2002.

Since then, fresh ownership, a new vision and entrepreneurial leadership have taken hold in the territory. Today that stretch of Highway 99, between Crater Iron and the Grange Co-Op's iconic grain elevator, has become an unlikely cradle to the city's Artisan Corridor renaissance.

"If you saw the old garage we're in, it was a ruin built in the 1930s or '40s," said Don Nixon, partner in the Madrone Mountain Wintery & Daisy Creek Vineyard, who opened a tasting room on Labor Day Weekend. "There was no insulation or nothing. It took a labor of love to turn it into a tasting room. That's what I see happening here. I see a critical mass of sorts developing here. I'm hopeful it will get to the point where other businesses see the advantages of a ready-made market."

When David Gremmels and Cary Bryant acquired Rogue Creamery from Ignazio "Ig" Vella, a stylish venue for producing world-class blue cheese wasn't necessarily at the forefront of their wish list. But it didn't mean the creative minds weren't formulating the contours of the premise.

"It's a big chunk of property (about five acres), big enough to support a community of artisans," Gremmels said.

He looked at a dilapidated three-car garage and saw it as a small-business incubator. Gremmels pitched the idea to Lillie Belle Chocolates owner Jeff Shepherd, who snapped up the whole thing for his start-up. That led to remodeling of another space, now occupied by the tasting room.

By March, Gremmels anticipates the arrival of a coffee company and gellato stand.

"I think there are more artisans out there who will join us in the corridor," Gremmels said. "There is momentum because there is an emphasis on locally made and produced food."

The intersection of the city's beautification and downtown renewal with the invigorating forces at work on Front Street have formed a confluence of commercial interests that figure to give the community a new identity for decades to come.

It took Ashland at least two generations to journey from Chautauqua beginnings to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival becoming a global attraction. Likewise, Jacksonville's ride from a destitute relic of the 19th century with little tourist appeal as recently as the 1960s was spurred by the filming of the 1972 film "The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid." The community revived itself by embracing its pioneer roots.

The corridor is a by-product of the growing agri-tourism phenomena. It is also a tribute to a passion for craftsmanship and a city wrestling for its place among the region's population centers.

"You can have the agri-tourism experience, but you don't have to be on a formal tour to see cheese being made, chocolate being made or glass being blown across the street," said Francis Plowman, Rogue Creamery's marketing and merchandising director.

The site wedged between Highway 99 and the Central Oregon & Pacific Railroad tracks can accommodate tour buses and has about 40 parking spaces.

"People can spread out for 90 minutes to two hours and see several things," Plowman said. "It's not like in the Applegate Valley where wineries are separated by miles."

Gremmels likes to use the word organic when describing the corridor's transition from blight to attraction.

"It will happen over a period of time, whether it's five, 10, 15 or 20 years, I think there is a momentum and emphasis on locally made and produced food made by people who are passionate and have integrity."

Such transformation doesn't take place overnight, said Don Burt, the former Medford Urban Renewal Association director now doing contract work for Central Point.

"Cannery Row in Monterey (Calif.) was a stinking cannery place," Burt said. "If you asked someone about that place 75 years ago, people would say 'Who wants to be there?' But we've seen the industrial layer become attractive. It's a function of your imagination, getting people out of cars, walking around and visiting."

When he interviewed for his job six years ago, City Administrator Phil Messina and his wife scoped out the area and collected brochures for Rogue Valley tourist attractions.

"When Susan and I went home and started opening the brochures, there was no mention of Central Point," Messina said. "You would see Grants Pass, Medford and Jacksonville; Central Point literally was never on the map."

Sparked by the revival and growth of Rogue Creamery, and Lillie Belle Chocolates bursting on the food and gift scene, Central Point is no longer just a milepost-marker on the map.

When the International Food, Wine and Travel Writers Association converged on the Rogue Valley for a conference in October, the emerging Artisan Corridor was among the visitation points.

Those who know Gremmels say the concept was in his mind long before the February 2007 date he gives when Rogue Creamery and Central Point officials gathered to discuss ways of giving the area an identity.

"Artisan Corridor seemed to work as a real destination," Gremmels said. "It was primarily where Front Street comes to the core of Central Point, Pine Street. It seems to have organically evolved from there."

Foremost was getting travelers off Interstate 5 at Exit 33 and onto the streets of Central Point, and getting locals rushing through town to stop and check things out.

With assistance from the city and Southern Oregon Regional Economic Development Inc., Artisan Corridor is now promoted in a brochure that highlights 10 food and spirit venues and a half-dozen craft-related elements. It also stretches the corridor to Seven Oaks Farm and Crater Rock Museum to the north; Shooting Star Nursery on Taylor Road to the west; the Horse Blanket on Pine Street to the east; and Grange Co-Op to the south. (Gary West Meats in Jacksonville and Rogue Valley Fresh Seafood Co. in Medford are part of the promotion, as well.)

"The private market is always the driver in these things," Messina said. "By the artisan community stepping forward and doing this itself, it gives it legitimacy. We can prime the pump a little, but it takes the private sector to stick necks out and make things happen. If we would have approached this by saying it would be great if we could attract all these businesses and have an artisan corridor, people would look at us like, 'You're nuts.' "

While the creamery, chocolate-maker and wine-tasting room across the street are about food and drink, Red Oak Glass is about taking raw materials and crafting them into significant and useful objects for everyday life.

Louis Colosimo and his staff fashion 3,000 lights sold from Korea to Canada.

Hand-blown glass is an Old World art, and its paces fly in the face of light-speed activity. One perk from the economic slowdown, he said, is that people are again investing in their homes, rather than simply upgrading to a new home.

"People traditionally put those little lights in their ceiling," Colosimo said. "They're good for seeing, but not good for your heart. This kind of lighting in and around the kitchen makes you relax. To me colored light is full of passion. Life can be filled with nice, smooth, simmery passion."

For his part, Colosimo wouldn't mind seeing a metal worker -- a village blacksmith -- creating iron work for gates and houses next door.

"The world is moving so fast right now and you need to slow down a little," Colosimo said. "With this happening, people are slowing down to stop and explore what's going on in the world around them. I can't tell you the number of people walking in the shop and asking how long we've been here. They didn't know Central Point had artisans."

A year ago, Lillie Belle Chocolates moved its retail operation to Central Point from Jacksonville, and in March the manufacturing end moved nearby.

Lillie Belle owner Jeff Shepherd sees the hand-made concept as a catalyst for growth in the district, while accessibility for both locals and travelers is a plus.

"There are between 25 and 30 flavors in our cases here that aren't available in the 300 stores that carry us, and not on our Web site," Shepherd said. "That's allowed me to be creative. Regulars come in every few weeks, finding their favorites, and those things stay on the list."

To see more of the Mail Tribune, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.mailtribune.com. Copyright (c) 2008, Mail Tribune, Medford, Ore. Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

More News:   Market Updates | Stock Alerts | All Trading News | Stock Index