News Photo by Barbara Woodham Brian Peterson, owner of Nowicki’s Sausage Shoppe, poses in his meeting room at the shop on Alpena’s north side earlier recently.

ALPENA — Kristen Misiak, who owns Shalla’s Market and Gas Station with her husband, Steve, said she remembers when businesses recently received grants to move downtown.

That kind of effort needs to happen for Alpena’s north side, too, she said.

“I am happy to have a vibrant downtown – we should,” said Misiak. “But, when you go three blocks away and there are empty buildings and houses, it is not good. I wish some of those benefits would spill over into other areas of the city.

“As soon as you leave downtown, it’s a ghost town,” she added. “I don’t understand or agree with that.”

Montiel Birmingham, Alpena’s new planning, development, and zoning director, said she is aware of some small businesses wanting to reinvigorate the north side area.

“I think that is great,” said Birmingham. “Is there opportunity to put some additional emphasis into those areas? Absolutely. But you also have to have people that are willing to do that, too. I would be happy to look into that and make things more productive for them and more viable for them to start a business.”

Birmingham said that there is other funding available that could be used for the north side or other parts of town and they would just have to start looking into it and applying for it.

Meanwhile, the Alpena Downtown Development Authority is considering expanding its boundaries farther along 2nd Avenue, which could open parts of the north side to DDA support.

‘THERE IS HISTORY HERE’

“If you ever hear my advertisements, I say ‘Nowicki’s on the historic north side,’ because there is history here,” said Brian Peterson, owner of Nowicki’s Sausage Shoppe in Alpena. “This was an awesome part of town, and now it’s getting forgotten about. I could make more money doing other things, but I think somebody should care about this.”

He now wants to open a ballroom to rent out for events on the second level of his building, but he said building codes and procedures are slowing that venture down.

Peterson also bought Chiefs, a bar on North 2nd Avenue, which he plans to turn into a family-oriented, Polish restaurant and lounge called The Polish Corner.

“I’m not trying to make a million bucks,” Peterson said. “I just want to live and work and raise my kids in a town where everyone knows everyone and we all work together.”

Working together, Peterson said, includes business owners and the city. He said he’s requested a sit-down with city officials to talk about more investment in the north side.

Peterson said that the meeting will take place on Jan. 11, when he will sit down with Birmingham and other city officials to discuss what has to be done to get his buildings ready for operation.

“What will Alpena look like in 2041?” Peterson said. “Whatever the city wants it to look like.”

‘A DIFFERENT KIND OF BUSY’

Meanwhile, north side business owners say they’re starting to build a more vibrant business community.

Misiak said she and her husband remodeled Shalla’s in 2017 and turned one of the shop’s auto repair bays into a kitchen. She has food service in her background and thought a north side eatery would do well – and it has.

The Misiaks rented the service station to a mechanic named Andrew Harmon, creating another business now operating on the north side.

“This has always been a busy corner,” Misiak said of the shop’s location where Adams and Walnut streets meet Long Lake Avenue. “But, now it is a different kind of busy. With the deli, there are so many more customers in and out.”

Barbara Woodham can be reached at 989-358-5687 or bwoodham@thealpenanews.com.