Industrial arts district blossoms in San Carlos

So Rogerville was game when a group of business owners began mobilizing themselves to take on clean-up efforts and organize events, and has been part of an effort to establish and foster an Industrial Arts Business Association in the neighborhood for more than a year. Having recently completed a project to paint a mural on the exterior walls of his business at the intersection of Bayport Avenue and Washington Street, Rogerville has been encouraged to see momentum building around efforts to spruce up the neighborhood.

“We’ve been on a mission to clean up this area and get a smile on it,” he said. “We didn’t want dirt and filth and we wanted to make it an inviting neighborhood.”

Rogerville said he didn’t have to look far to find artist Tom Chapman, who has a studio at Art Bias, a collection of art studios at 1700 Industrial Road. He said Chapman had shown four paintings in his tasting room in the past, and took on the project to paint imaginative scenes on Cuvée Wine Cellars’ walls this summer.

Together with a new set of garbage cans donated by the San Carlos Rotary Club and installed on his business’ corner, Rogerville has seen the efforts to invite visitors to the neighborhood — especially on weekends when Devil’s Canyon Brewing Company across the street and several other wineries are serving beverages — start to pay off.

Dave Toole, owner of Toole’s Garage at 1065 Washington St., said efforts among business owners like Rogerville, who is on the association’s board, to install exterior lighting and plant flowers and shrubs outside their buildings have also helped make the district’s streets become more pedestrian-friendly. As president of the Industrial Arts Business Association, Toole was among those who pegged increased lighting and installing trash cans in the district as among the association’s goals last year, and said he has been pleased to see those goals come to fruition in recent months.

“We have, as an organization, been door to door and we’ve already increased the illumination factor throughout the district,” he said. “It’s come a long way, it really doesn’t feel as rugged.”

Toole said the association is working to install three more sets of garbage cans in the neighborhood by the end of the year, and continues to see quarterly clean-ups take shape in the neighborhood throughout the year. He has also been encouraged to see association membership grow in the last year, noting many of the businesses that have supported the Industrial Arts Horsepower Car Show hosted in the neighborhood for the last two years step up and become association members.

The association is in the midst of preparing for its third-annual car show slated for Sept. 7 and is expected to bring some 3,000 visitors, 250 cars and vendors offering food and family-friendly activities to the neighborhood, where business owners will also showcase the diverse collection of products in the district, said Toole.

Kristiann Garrett, co-owner of Devil’s Canyon Brewing Company at 935 Washington St. and the association’s vice president, was also glad to see the association’s progress in the last two years, especially since projects like the trash can installation proved to be more costly and time-consuming than the group initially thought. She added the association is working with the city’s Public Works Department and Pacific Gas & Electric to improve street lighting in the neighborhood, where she said the streets can get very dark at night or in the winter.

Between more residents becoming aware of the businesses in the neighborhood, the businesses joining forces to improve the streetscape and the responsiveness of city employees to assist with removal of large items that are dumped in the neighborhood, Garrett is hopeful the neighborhood will continue to become more welcoming to visitors there.

Because some of the buildings in the district are being used as storage, Garrett acknowledged outreach to those charged with maintaining them has, at times, been challenging. But she said more and more employees working in the buildings have come to realize that minor maintenance efforts like weeding or a new layer of exterior paint can go a long way toward improving the overall look and feel in the neighborhood.

Though their focus currently is on the September car show, Garrett said business owners are already imagining new projects they can take on next year, which she noted could include a craft beverage walk and other events aimed at showcasing the diverse set of businesses there.

“The group is growing and we’re getting more membership, which is just great,” she said. “But to actually see the work that we’ve done … to see it come to fruition is just pretty awesome.”

The third annual Industrial Arts Horsepower Car Show will be held 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 7, at 1065 Washington St. in San Carlos. Visit horsepowercarshow.com for more information.

anna@smdailyjournal.com

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