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Chandler/Tempe Edition
INSIDE THIS WEEK NEWS | 6
Benedictine outgrows Mesa space, plans expansion
THE SUNDAY
Chandler candidates have their say
Tribune EAST VALLEY
PAGE 11
Sunday, August 14, 2016
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Road’s vibrant past holds key to future
Mesa’s Main Street remains vital East Valley artery
COVER STORY BY DAWSON FEARNOW TRIBUNE CONTRIBUTOR
‘I
hope this isn’t another story about how Main Street is making a comeback,” says local historian and lifelong Mesa resident, Dilworth Brinton Jr. “Because they’ve been writing that same story for decades, and here’s the sad truth. It ain’t happening, and I’m afraid it never will.” Not so fast, says dedicated defender Michelle Streeter of Visit Mesa (aka the Mesa Convention and Visitors Bureau). “Revitalization is happening along Main Street, from really exciting new shops and restaurants to former alleyways transformed into pocket parks,” she says. But even Streeter acknowledges, “We need more to really create the truly thriving and vibrant downtown Mesa that we all want to see.” So what is the status of Mesa’s signature streetscape, the former highway and once bustling heartbeat for the entire East Valley that’s now been famously struggling for decades? Is it in the midst of a renaissance thanks to a new crop of mom-and-pop boutiques and a restored appreciation for its midcentury architecture and retro-cool neon signs? Or is it condemned by the same suburban growth it
SPORTS | 19
Casteel ready for the big time as varsity football begins
FAITH | 25
String connects East Valley Jews to their heritage
COMMUNITY............12 OPINION.....................15 BUSINESS....................17 CLASSIFIED ...............28
STATE FAIR | 23 Concert lineup announced, features Iggy Azalea, Scotty McCreery, Garbage
(Will Powers/Tribune Staff Photographer)
THEATER | 22 Broadway shows at Gammage brought big bucks to the East Valley in past year
The StarLite Motel’s Diving Lady is a 60-year-old landmark along Mesa’s Main Street. The sign was restored in 2011 after being blown down in a storm several years earlier.
MAIN STREET on page 4
(Will Powers/Tribune Staff Photographer)
See
Main Street marked the convergence of both East-West and North-South thoroughfares. It was also the site of the original Route 66.