Welcome to a multi-part Huntington, West Virginia thread. In these posts, I will be poking around some Ritter Park neighborhoods, Pullman Square and then the downtown. You can see the rest at my Flickr account.

 

Pullman Square: See Part 2 (downtown) for the intro.

 

This entire block of 3rd Avenue has almost been fully restored. The lone building is the former Stone and Thomas Department Store building (the 6 level structure), which is slated for condos. Pullman Square is at left. Compare this to just four years ago, when the entire block was all but vacant. Today, it is home to the Le Cook Store, a culinary institute, Cingular Wireless, a jewelers, office, and future retail.

 

Pullman Square has single-handly helped spur revitalization in downtown Huntington. The most visible changes have been along 3rd Avenue, where many buildings are either under renovations or have been renovated. 9th Street, running south of Pullman Square, has been reconstructed, and 4th Avenue is slated for reconstruction.

 

And you know something? There are a few people who still think a two square-block parking lot is better than a thriving retail, entertainment, and restaurant hub. Go figure.

 

 

The West Virginia Bistro closed after Jack Whittaker failed to pay the bills. Remember him? Yeah, the now-broke lottery winner from West Virginia. No wonder.

 

The parking structure on the left can support an additional office structure on top.

 

The day previous in the late evening (Saturday), Pullman Square was insanely crowded. Not a bench was free and the wall was all but occupied. A book signing was going in in Empire News and Books, and a small band was playing in the shelter.

 

Many of the shops and eateries, such as Max and Erma's, Cold Stone Creamery, and EB Games, are some of the highest rated in their entire chain or district. (Cold Stone near the top in the entire chain; EB Games number one in its district; Empire News and Book saw a 39% jump from February to March, and triple-digits from the same time in late 2004 -- for a few instances).

 

 

Empire News and Books is an independent bookstore that features hundreds upon hundreds of magazine subscriptions, books, and local flare. It has been so successful that the owners will be building a localized store in Columbus, Ohio!

 

Flashback to the night prior: absolute madness. This is tranquility during a Sunday morning, although the restaurant to the top right is fairly packed and the park to the left fairly full.

 

Enjoy part 3! You can find more at my Flickr account.h

Looking good, but I don't think that was inplace during my brief stop back on '04.  Seems to blen fairly well.  So much potential for Huntington.  The fact that Marshall is there should help the city quite a bit in its turn-around.  Sorry I didn't explore the city more (time constraints), but when (if) i get back there I'll block out more time to see some of the residential and University areas.  Thanls for the tour seicer.

Nice pics seicer!  Last time I was in Huntington, Le Cook was just about to open.  Nice to see 3rd Avenue prospering so much. 

 

Brings back memories of the high school days and sneaking off to Huntington on the weekends to try to get into bars.

I seem to recall an earlier version of Pulllman Square that used old railroad cars as shops, connected by a wood deck?

 

 

Was there no residential component to this (besides projects it spurred)?

 

Looks like a pleasant place to spend a few hours!

^ ^

That is Heritage Square, which is kind of suffering because it is too 'disconnected' from the rest of the downtown. There needs to be more development behind Mack and Dave's to connect it from Pullman, and additional focus on Heritage Square. The restaurant and some offices there do very well, though.

 

^

No residential component; it is purely a lifestyle center. The building stock on 3rd Avenue (the entire block) are being renovated, with a few offering some condos.

Wonderful!

I hope that Huntington becomes a great success story and an example to other burnt-out industrial cities that are neglecting their potential.