New Life for Antique Row?

Broadway between 7th and 9th remains an elusive piece of the downtown Tacoma revitalization puzzle. While other segments of downtown have grown and even flourished in the last few years, the two block stretch of Broadway we call Antique Row has been hit hard, with at least two stores in the process of closing shop right now.

There is some hope, of course. An interesting new retailer called Greenspace is wholesaling tropical Hawaiian plants on the alley. Next door to them, 732 Broadway, has been redone by the Gintz Group and could make a great spot for another retailer. And across the street the Mecca renovation seems to be moving along at a good pace.

The two big projects, the Winthrop and the Elks Temple, that will anchor the alley on either side are still years away from restoration and completion, however. It is those projects, in concert with the Broadway Center, that will make this two-block stretch quite lively once again…in a few years…after the LID has rolled through.

Because of the redevelopment, it seems likely we won’t get any new antique stores populating the alley again. These shops generally rely on low rent as well as clustering with other stores, and this section of Broadway will not be able to offer antique dealers either for much longer.

This leads us to the question: Should Antique Row keep being called Antique Row? Or should it return to just Broadway again, with all the urban and theatrical connotations that implies? Or is there some new name we should give the stretch?