Downtown Oak Harbor has finally awoken from a long slumber.

The blocks of “old town” on Pioneer Way, spanning from Midway Boulevard to Ely Street and beyond, is brimming with life and jingling with commerce. It even has a new name — Harborside Shoppes.

Not long ago, the neighborhood was blighted with closed storefronts and a musical chairs of struggling businesses. Groups, politicians and consultants with big ideas for improving the area came and went, but nothing ever seemed to improve.

Now, only one storefront has papered windows and a computer business has plans to expand into that building. Several downtown landlords and mainstay businesses, such as the Casual House and Dave’s Pioneer Cafe, have invested money this year in remodeling. Three new boutiques, all fresh and interesting, opened in the last six months on one block. A total of five antique shops are thriving.

Then there’s the food. A hungry person can dine on Greek, Italian, Thai, Chinese, French or Mexican food, or just good-old American soup and salad. Coffee lovers now have two baristas to choose from.

“For the first time I can remember, you have a collective effort taking place downtown,” Mayor Patty Cohen said. “Landlords and tenants alike are willing to make the investment in that neighborhood. It’s very exciting.”

Big plans

in the works

And there’s no indication that the downtown resuscitation will end anytime soon. People have big plans for the area. Scott Fraser, former executive chef and part-owner of Kasteel Franssen, will be breaking ground this summer on a building that will house swanky condos, his own gourmet restaurant, a wine and cheese shop and possibly a bakery. He plans on working with a neighbor to create an entire village of quaint shops.

Susie Lambert, former owner of Chocolates For Breakfast, plans to build a shop a block away, on the site of the old bank building. It will be similar to Chocolates For Breakfast, with an added tea room and gift shop.

The Oak Harbor city staff and politicians are also on the bandwagon. For seven years, the city has worked through the arduous permitting process to build a $6.3 million pier in Flintstone Park. The original aim of the project was to help revitalize downtown Oak Harbor. The city is now searching for grants.

They hired tourism consultant Roger Brooks last year to create a masterplan for redeveloping downtown and the waterfront. His proposal includes $4 million in improvements directly downtown, including turning the worn sidewalks into boardwalks and installing angled parking, plus millions more for a convention center and hotel on the nearby waterfront.

Brooks came up with the moniker “Harborside Shoppes” for the downtown shopping district. He inspired merchants to create an independent Harborside Merchants Association.

Lydia Sikes, who owns Whidbey Wild Birds with husband Phillip, said the merchants association is working together to do things like coordinate hours of operations and market Harborside Shoppes, but they also has ambitious designs for the future.

They hope to do things like put together a big new Christmas event downtown and create fun events. A top priority of the association and the Brooks plan, she said, is to change Pioneer Way from parallel parking to angled parking.

“We did an in-store survey,” she said, “and 98 percent of our customers want angle-in parking.”

What started

the renewal?

Depending on who you ask, things began to change for the better one to five years ago. Several downtown merchants point to Erawan, the Thai restaurant that opened two years ago. Together with the expanded and remodeled Mediterranean restaurant, Zorba’s, people started flocking downtown for some very good eats.

But there are plenty of other theories about what finally tipped the balance downtown.

Sean and Beth Powell opened a coffee stand — which serves Tully’s fair-trade and organic brews — inside Wind & Tide Bookshop in April. Beth lived in the city in 1991 and remembers downtown as being “not a happy place.” The couple moved back and watched the area blossom.

Beth figures downtown is doing well because many people, like her, are rediscovering small towns. “It’s important for people to have a sense of community,” she said.

Frazer said he decided to make the huge investment of constructing a new downtown building, up from Pioneer Way at Dock Street and Fidalgo Avenue, largely because of the Oak Harbor City Council. Last summer, the members started talking about making a serious effort into redevelopment downtown and the waterfront.

Critics pointed to all the other plans, committees, groups and efforts aimed at downtown renewal — going back to the early 1970s — but they all fizzled out. But the council held strong and hired Brooks to create another plan, which they promised they would support to the bitter end.

Frazer said Brooks’ plan and the council’s commitment inspired him, along with the knowledge that the community is growing by leaps and bounds. He will serve “quality steak and seafood” at his gourmet restaurant, which will have an outdoor dining area.

A seafood restaurant and outdoor dining, Mayor Cohen said, are two things that downtown badly needs.

Gloria Carothers, who’s owned the Jewelry Gallery for nearly 14 years, said it’s just a happy coincidence that so many positive people opened stores and invested downtown at the same time. She said it was a matter of time before downtown Oak Harbor was discovered.

“This is the place to be,” she said. “This is the happening place.”

And it’s true that many of the improvements and alterations downtown were coincidental. After 14 years of serving unpretentious food to regulars, Dave’s Pioneer Cafe is now a French bistro, at least on the inside, with a new menu and expanded hours.

Elaine Riley, Dave’s daughter, said the restaurant has gone through many changes over the years. It started out as a donut shop and slowly expanded its offerings to breakfast, lunch and now dinner. She said the impressive interior remodeling in January had little or nothing to do with the downtown renaissance.

“It was just time for a change,” she said.

Oldtimers see the change

Jill Schacht’s family, the Allgires, has run the Casual House downtown for 42 years and owns two buildings downtown. She’s seen the health of the area wax and wane over the years, but she said the current rebirth is not a mirage.

“This is the best occupancy that I’ve seen in 10 years,” she said. “Maybe 20.”

Schacht said one thing that’s made the difference downtown is the merchants themselves. She said they are the most committed and positive group she’s seen.

“In the past,” she said, “people would tear apart a plan right from the get-go. Now there’s a lot of fresh ideas and excitement.”

The Allgires invested in a major remodel of the outside of the buildings, and the inside of the store, about a year ago. Schacht said they were planning the remodeling for two years before that and it had nothing to do with the downtown renaissance. Again, it was just time for a change.

Yet Schacht said she was very happy to find wonderful tenants for the neighboring building, which have also helped to fuel the revival. Brenda’s Front Porch and Fox Pointe Ltd., a couple of unique home decor-type shops, opened side-by-side a couple of months ago. Eileen’s Creative Kitchenware opened nearby last Thanksgiving.

John Groote, co-owner of Fox Pointe, said he and his wife considered opening their store in Port Townsend, but found that downtown Oak Harbor was much less expensive and more convenient, geography-wise. He said they were impressed by the variety of businesses, which draw plenty of customers to the area.

The nearby coffee shop is also changing. Elfuel and Kathy Collantes purchased the Big Cup a couple weeks ago, which they renamed Angelo’s Cafe. They are phasing out the gifts and adding a bistro-style lunch and an expanded bakery.

Downtown is undeniably waking refreshed and ready for the future, but that isn’t to say no challenges lie ahead. City officials need to find millions upon millions of dollars to build a municipal pier or enact Brooks’ redevelopment plan.

Not everyone is on exactly the same page. Les Bense, owner of Oak Tree Antiques, has major reservations about both the city’s and the merchants associations plans; he’s against expensive changes downtown.

Out-of-town owners continue to hold onto a couple of downtown parcels that many see as key to the future. Most notably is the Copeland / Beselin property, which is the large waterfront parcel next to Mi Pueblo. Local people have made extraordinary efforts to lure a hotelier to build an upscale hotel and convention center at the site, but the deals always fell through.

But the dream isn’t dead. Mayor Cohen said rumors continue to swirl about developers who are interested in the land. Most recently, she heard that someone put down earnest money on the property.

Of course, only time will tell.

You can reach Jessie Stensland at jstensland@whidbeynewstimes.com or 675-6611.