New artisan shop part of larger vision

Lorraine Felix envisions a downtown Gardnerville full of history, art and friends.

"This should be the core of our town where people want to stay and spend time," said the 20-year Carson Valley resident. "Why is a main street important? Do we want buildings broken down and boarded up, or do we want a thriving community?"

Earlier this month, Felix opened Felix Pottery & Artisan's Shoppe along the Highway 395 corridor in downtown Gardnerville. She and her husband, Bob, bought the building in the late 1980s. She said her husband loved the quaint, two-story, two-bedroom yellow house near Sharkey's Casino.

"The house has so much history," she said. "It was built in 1947 and used as a doctor's office. A man came in and said when he was 6 years old he used to get his blood pressure taken in the back room."

Photographer Frank Nestler was using the same room as a dark room for his studio when the couple bought the house in 1988. When Nestler left, the couple leased the property to businesses like Especially For You, and most recently Orchard Antiques.

"It's hard to make a profit selling antiques," said Felix.

Felix said the small businesses that survive downtown are those that diversify and sell a variety of goods. She said her first pottery store, by the same name initially located in the Anker Building, was a small studio where she sold pottery supplies.

"When this house became available again, I decided to get creative with the mortgage," said Felix. "I said, 'Let's get some artisans!'"

The house is now a cooperative, featuring a dozen local artists, who, in exchange for having a place to sell their work, take turns working in the store and helping customers.

"Lots of times, the artists will bring their work in, and customers will never know what they'll find," said Felix. "I might be working with clay in the back room. I'll take a potters wheel outside on the street if it will pull people in."

Now, the back room of the house is a pottery studio where Felix hosts weekly lessons. The living room is where the artists display their work, including the paintings of Minden resident Renee Ekleberry, the pit-fire ceramics of Tahoe resident Renee Rose, fused glass by Minden resident Janice Stowers, other ceramics, paintings, soaps, dolls and flowers.

"There is a strong art community here," said Felix. "You look around in this store, and the beauty of everything and everyone gets you going."

Felix said other businesses in downtown Gardnerville envision the same kind of community.

"Carson City does this Wine Walk where everyone goes from store to store," said Felix. "With better sidewalks and crosswalks and events like that we could keep our main street thriving. A father was in here the other day with his daughter and said he felt bad for not supporting the area more, like he was missing out on all the history."

Felix said downtown businesses are routinely meeting with town of Gardnerville officials to collaborate on a shared plan for prosperity.

"We are aspiring to be one of 1,200 communities in the Main Street Program," said Gardnerville Town Manager Jim Park. "It's a comprehensive philosophy developed by the National Trust for Historic Preservation that came out of the 1980s in response to urban sprawl."

Park said rather than developing space all around a town, the program aims to reinvest in a town itself, preserve its historic elements while developing its economy from within.

"The entire program builds on existing assets," said Park. "We mix public investment in downtown, like sidewalks and street lights, with an immense amount of private enterprise."

Park said the goal is to make a pedestrian-friendly downtown, where people walk, shop, dine and visit.

"The question is how to get everyone, the downtown stake holders, around the table," said Park.

"It's exciting," said Felix. "People should come downtown and see what it's all about."

Felix Pottery, located at 1459 Highway 395, is hosting its grand opening 4:30 to 6 p.m. tonight. Call 782-5434 for more information.