South Bend Cubs' 'halo' shining on city's downtown businesses
As the South Bend Cubs continue to develop Four Winds Field, neighboring businesses are piggybacking on the stadium’s success.
“It’s a golden era for the Cubs as it were, and that halo kind of shines over all of us, which is amazing,” said South Bend Brew Werks Owner, Andrew Elegante.
Feeling the light are South Bend Brew Werks, Linden Grill, Chicory Café, and Jones Petrie Rafinski, to name a few.
Engineering consultant JPR actually led the renovation on the stadium.
Now, they can see it from the window of their new building.
“The growth has been pretty amazing. Certainly the renovations that have been done at the ballpark have spurred a lot of interest in this part of town,” said Vice President of JPR, David Rafinski.
“Really downtown is kind of in a new renaissance with growth and businesses coming in,” said Chicory Café Manager, Andrew Schreiber.
The city certainly agrees.
“I think the success of the Cubs’ agreement, the success of the things they have been able to do at the ballpark have married up really well with how aggressive we at the city have been in really marketing the area as a place people want to go to do business, to live, and to expand their existing businesses,” said the Director of South Bend’s Economic Development department, Brian Pawlowski.
He, too, can watch the businesses blossom just by doing an about-face in his office chair.
“Momentum is one of the hardest things to get going, but once it does get going, you know, as long as you’re steering the ship in a pretty good direction, we think that you know good things are gonna happen,” said Pawlowski.
With the South Bend Cubs at the helm, local businesses are raising a glass to future good fortune.
“People from outside of South Bend are bringing their money into South Bend, which is a great thing, but I see the Cubs as sort of a leader in that respect,” said Elegante.
“I’m just looking forward to everything else that’s about to come our way. The kids and the hotels and everything else that’s about to pop up, it’s been great, I’m excited,” said the General Manager of Linden Grill, Ashley Dody.
“There is just something different about the Cubs,” said Pawlowski.
That something special is helping to stimulate the city.
“It’s nice to have things like that that are nice that you can point to as a community and say I’m proud to be here and let’s go watch a game,” said Elegante.