Business View Civil and Municipal | May/June 2022

88 CIVIL AND MUNICIPAL VOLUME 3, ISSUE 5 available spaces and shops are now 100 percent occupied by local businesses and they are still in the process of renovating and restoring a lot of buildings. Over the course of the COVID-19 pandemic nine new businesses opened downtown. “It’s a very exciting time,” McCarty says, “Our downtown is definitely the heart of our city and I think that also provides that sense of community. It really gets people excited about opening up a business here.” A few businesses on the way include a cooperative workspace, a $2.5 million restaurant and speakeasy, and the iconic ACE Hardware Store is under new management and expanding its location downtown. The new 22,000 square foot facility will have everything other ACE stores have, including a garden centre. McCarty believes it will definitely be a destination downtown. The downtown team is also working toward finalizing contracts to redevelop the North Plaza which may turn into a four-story building with retail on the first floor and 170 or more apartments above and a four-story parking garage. They also hope to redevelop Sundance Square to add a splash pad and an outdoor stage for live music and other events. McCarty boasts, “We’re really excited about that, downtown has been completely transformed with our new streetscape and infrastructure that we have put in. It is amazing, it really is a beautiful place.” MESA is managing all of the projects to ensure they fit the design of the downtown, As Wehmeier explains, “They are all connected to make sure that it works together, all that happened before I got here, but it’s absolutely the right way to approach it in my opinion. It’s brilliant... MESA are an extension of our staff, they’re so entwined with everything we’re doing that they are part of Ennis.” The downtown is the primary location for the city’s events, including the Bluebonnet Festival,