Commerce Avenue Returns to its Namesake

The more you know about a place and its history, the greater affinity you have for it. - Anonymous

Imagine yourself back at the turn of the 20^th Century. You're rolling into Grand Rapids' Union Station from Chicago for a furniture exhibition, in the passenger car of a big steam locomotive. Walking out onto Ionia Avenue into the warm and humid summer evening, you ask a local where you might find a room to rent and to "have a good time." He points you Eastward toward South Division Avenue, but mentions that you should stop at Spring Street (now known as Commerce Avenue) to check out a boxing match about to take place at the Coliseum. You walk the short distance to the place and see throngs of Dutchmen* spilling out of the Coliseum onto the sidewalk. Cheers and jeers ring through the crowd as the prized fighter goes in for the final blow.

At the heart of the Heartside Historic District lies Commerce Avenue. This unassuming street, only a few city blocks long, has long been home to the working class of Grand Rapids. While Division Avenue was one of several streets lined with shops, theaters, flophouses, bars, brothels and other entertainment, and Ionia Avenue hustled and bustled with carriages, trains and trolleys around the massive Union Station shed, Commerce Avenue was the red-headed stepchild in the mix. It was where carriages were repaired, or army uniforms were sewn by the thousands.

The one exception was the ornate Heystek Building, or also called the Coliseum. Originally opened as a a skating rink in 1910, with its massive arch and carved lion heads at the front entrance, its signature presence became home to conventions, dances, and yes, even boxing matches. The Coliseum also connected directly with neighboring buildings on Division Avenue, where the all important catalyst of commerce, the streetcars, rolled up and down the avenue all day and night.

Commerce Avenue got the job done. And as time moved on, it became home to car dealerships and repair shops, and other less glamorous undertakings. But as the 1970's and 80's rolled in, the people and businesses of Commerce Avenue rolled out. In an effort to preserve the fabric of the neighborhood from almost certain demise, the area was designated the Heartside Historic District in 1982. By the mid 1990's, however, Commerce Avenue was anything but a commercial avenue; where vacancies ran extremely high, buildings rotted, and the only commerce taking place was by drug dealers and prostitutes.

It wasn't until 1996 and the opening of the Van Andel Arena near Ionia and Fulton Avenue that things began to change. The wave of redevelopment first hit the areas immediately to the East and West of the arena, remaking the old but remarkable buildings along Ionia and Ottawa Avenues in Heartside. But as space became premium, it began to spill over onto Commerce Avenue.

It began slowly with Heart of West Michigan United Way moving in to the Heystek Building (Coliseum), and the opening of Cooley Law School as part of the Cherry Street Landing project. But the pace picked up as the 2000's rolled on. Soon old buildings like the historic Globe Knitting Works manufacturing plant found new life as residential apartments. Globe Knitting, in case you didn't know, made some of the world's most renowned underwear in the late 1800's, leading to it supplying underwear to the armed services in WWI and WWII.

Old garages became churches, dealerships became professional office buildings, an old post office turned into a beauty academy, an auto repair shop became the new home of P.R. firm Lambert Edwards, ProCare Systems took over a blighted old building, and a vacant lot became home to one of downtown GR's most prestigious eight-story addresses (38 Commerce) and the city's first mixed use "liner" buildings/parking ramps in a partnership with the city's parking department and Locus Development. 

And though not technically on Commerce Avenue, the new Gallery on Fulton gently hugs the Commerce/Fulton corner, with its new home of the Urban Institute for Contemporary Arts, retail, and multiple floors of residential apartments, it certainly punctuates the Northern end of the street.

The most recent surge of redevelopment has significantly impacted downtown's nightlife as well. And in its working class style, the new venues like Pyramid Scheme and Stella's seem to appeal to the working class once again, with both venues hosting a bevy of pinball and arcade games, and their somewhat Rockabilly styled patrons pouring out into the warm summer evenings.

The only thing we haven't seen return yet is the roller skating and boxing matches, but maybe those activities might be in the future mix. Commerce Avenue seems to be just heating up.

Take a walking tour with us in this flickr slideshow and see how far the street has come just in a few short years:

*The Heartside District at the turn of the century was the recipient of huge numbers of Dutch immigrants, at the time called Old Town.