Lansing - Just north of the Capitol sits Shirl's Boutique - a small shop located at 304 E. Grand River Ave. in the heart of Lansing's Old Town.
Inside the shop, unique women's clothing hangs on racks. And hanging alongside some of the pant suits and eclectic hats are the hopes of co-owners Shirl Skinner and Mark Davenport.
Skinner and Davenport recently moved their store to a new location within Lansing's Old Town district, a historical area composed of art galleries, bars and restaurants.
Old Town competes with the business district in front of the Capitol. Both areas have had economic struggles in the past, but recent financial investments might turn the two areas around.
Before Lansing became the state's capital, Old Town was the center of the small community. In 1847, Lansing was named the capital of Michigan, and the city's economic center shifted toward the Capitol.
"People automatically gravitated to the Capitol to build the commercial district," Principal Shopping District Executive Director Kevin Green said.
Up until about 15 years ago, Old Town was forgotten, said Betsy Bigsby, interim executive director of Old Town Commercial Association.
"For a while, there wasn't anything here. This was considered a really bad part of town," Bigsby said.
But in 1996, people began to take an interest in the historical area and thought it should be saved, she said. To help make this happen, the National Trust for Historic Preservation named Old Town part of the Main Street program that year.
Since 1998, about $15 million of public and private funds have been invested into Old Town, Bigsby said. Currently, there are 14 retail businesses, 50 service businesses, eight galleries, nine restaurants, six bars and nightclubs and 12 organizations or associations in Old Town, not including Limited Liability Companies or businesses run out of the home.
A Limited Liability Company is a type of small business that is not part of a corporation.
The historic buildings in Old Town are being rehabilitated. Fourteen buildings were restored last summer, and 10 are scheduled for restoration this summer.
"The most significant part is just the change, is just the way Old Town appears to people," Bigsby said. "There are a lot of developers that are interested in the area."
Skinner and Davenport anticipate the new location of Shirl's Boutique in Old Town will draw in more people because of higher traffic on the street. The boutique was formerly located on Turner Street, about a block north of its new location on East Grand River Avenue.
Bigsby said they are trying to attract larger restaurants to the area and are coming up with new events to bring in more people.
While Old Town undergoes significant development, the downtown Lansing business area also is going though a change.
Fifty years ago, downtown Lansing thrived, Green said. But the area eventually deteriorated, and as few as 10 years ago people were not optimistic about the area, he said.
"There were parts of Michigan Avenue that were red light districts - you could buy anything you wanted," Green said.
Throughout the 1980s the area struggled to bring in new businesses. When Clara's Lansing Station, 637 E. Michigan Ave., opened in 1979, some people speculated that it would not survive.
"People thought (the owner) was crazy to convert that railroad station in that location into a restaurant," Green said.
The restaurant thrived, however, and the downtown Lansing business area slowly redeveloped. In 1996, Oldsmobile Park, 505 E. Michigan Ave., home of the Lansing Lugnuts minor league baseball team, opened.
"Ten years ago there probably wasn't much of an economic plan," said Patricia Cook, city of Lansing's Economic Development Corporation and Business Resource Center manager.
About five years ago, the Blue Ribbon Committee put together a report on housing, economic development and parking in downtown Lansing, Cook said. Since then, there has been $65 million of public and private investment in downtown.
Currently, there are 65 retail stores and restaurants situated in the Principal Shopping District, which surrounds the Capitol.
Green said the change will "attract a broader range of creative business entrepreneurs," such as restaurants, bars with good music and stores featuring quirky, trendy designs.
"Lansing is going to be a completely different city in 10 years," he said.
