By Teri Carnicelli

The group known as the Madison on 16th Merchants Association, which formed in late 2004 to help raise the profile of the commercial intersection at 16th Street and Bethany Home Road, has organized its second-annual ‘Scene on 16” Street Fair. This year’s event, set for Sunday, Oct. 12, is shaping up to be bigger and better, thanks to a new location and some new partners in the effort.

    Lateral 10 LLC and Red Mountain Retail Group, the team that will be redeveloping the shopping center at the southwest corner where Bashas’, Osco and Fitness West used to be, has joined the association and is offering the use of the large parking area on the north side of the center for the event.

In addition, the landmark Phoenix City Grille will have an outside beer garden adjacent to the restaurant that will offer beer and wine sales.

    There also will be the usual family fare, such as jumping castles, and ice cream eating contest, clowns, games and prizes, food, karaoke, and arts and crafts vendors. The Phoenix Police and Fire Departments will be represented, as will Councilman Greg Stanton. Area merchants will have information booths set up, and many will be offering raffle prizes.

The street fair isn’t the only thing the merchants group has been working on for the past year. The association has used some of the funds granted to it when it was designed a Fight Back area in July of 2005 to improve the image and create an identity for the 16th Street business corridor. After agreeing on the “Madison on 16” tagline, the group met with a consulting team from the Joint Urban Design Center and School of Architecture at ASU to help them create a new logo and image for Madison on 16. This is the same team that helped to develop the identity for “Melrose on 7th.” The Seventh Avenue Merchants Association (SAMA) has been hugely successful in revitalizing what was once considered a depressed and unattractive shopping area along 7th Avenue between Camelback and Indian School roads.

Matt Micksin of Lateral 10 LLC, who serves on the association committee, says having ASU on board has been a great experience. “It’s important to get that outside perspective,” he notes. “We know the intersection of 16th and Bethany is the hub and the main focus, but sometimes its good to have someone from the outside come in and give you a broader view.”

    “We want to make it a destination, really put it on the map like they did over at Melrose,” says Marc Hawkins of HP2 Promotions, president of the Madison on 16th Merchants Association. “The ASU group has been working on this for more than 8 months and they’ve developed some great visual concepts for posters and banners, as well as created a terrific Web site for us (www.madisonon16.com),” he adds.

    Ultimately the merchants group will take over the hosting of the Web site, and all merchants in the area will be listed, with an option to have the store’s name linked to its own Web site, should the business owner already have one.

    The group already is working on Madison on 16 window decals and posters for merchants to place in their shops, and street pole banners also are being considered. Other improvement projects being examined  include artistically designed bus shelters, similar to what can be seen along Shea Boulevard in Scottsdale, and painting all utility poles in the intersection a bright, vibrant color.

    In the meantime, the merchants group invites neighbors to come and see what the new “Madison on 16” vibe is all about at the street fair, which will run from 12 to 5 p.m. Area merchants who would like to participate in the fair are invited to call Marc Hawkins at 602-235-9099 or e-mail him at marc@hp2promo.com.