Fifth Avenue South
still 'downtown' to many

By Michelle Vachon, staff business writer

Fifth Avenue South may have changed since the 1950s, but one thing remains the same - for people living here, it's still considered downtown.

Since the days when business people would meet for coffee every morning at the Rexall Drugstore (now the Fifth Avenue Pharmacy) and close shop on Wednesday afternoons, Fifth Avenue South has been the center of town.

During the 1980s, as the area's population was growing by leaps and bounds, banks and brokerage houses moved to the avenue, along with professional services, from law firms to real estate offices and travel agencies.

In 1993, the City of Naples and the Fifth Avenue South Property Owners Association pulled their resources together to hire Andres Duany, a Miami-based town planner who had worked on the redevelopment of 90 cities worldwide, from West Palm Beach to Istanbul in Turkey.

His five-year program for what he called Main Street included espresso shops and outdoor dining, canvas awnings and native plants, apartments on top levels to generate foot traffic and a planned selection of store tenants as space becomes vacant.

As one can see while walking along the avenue, Duany's recommendations were immediately put to work. Restaurants with outdoor tables have opened, storefronts have gone through face-lifts and the whole street has been landscaped and equipped with street lights.

"With this behind us, we are now beginning the process of managing and marketing the avenue," said Kevin Pfleger, vice presdient for Barnett Bank of Naples and president of the Fifth Avenue South Business Association.

This means creating traffic, getting the right tenants and, generally speaking, keeping an eye on the avenue, he said. "We don't want to just assume that everything is going to fall in line and stay that way."

"We are proactively managing how it will look and be perceived in the future - we are defining our identity," said Pfleger.

Fifth Avenue South has become a combination of banking and professional services, boutiques and antique stores, restaurants and cafes. But another element will soon be added to that mix, Pfleger said.

One of Duany's suggestions was to make Fifth Avenue South a cultural hub by building nearby art galleries, cinemas and theaters. The city has since approved the construction of the Naples Players Theater on Seventh Street South and the Community Art Center in Cambier Park, which should be completed by the turn of the century, said Pfleger. "These two projects will create major changes in the area."

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