WILLIMANTIC -- The fabric of the Thread City has changed.
Hartford Courant, Brittany Oats
A granite mill building on Main Street, once part of the American Thread Co. complex, has been transformed into a 48-unit ArtSpace Connecticut facility overlooking the Willimantic River. The old Capitol Theater, shuttered for the past 35 years, now shows double features every Friday night and is home to an arts magnet high school.
And new shops, such as Swift Waters Artisans' Cooperative, and All This, And Heaven Too, a consignment store, thrive off members of the growing artist community.
Downtown is undergoing a revival, but 2005 Eastern Connecticut State University graduate Andrés Hidalgo says Willimantic has one final stitch missing from its fabric - college students.
"Most students go home on the weekend to get their hair cut or oil changed," said Hidalgo, who made Willimantic his home after graduation because he loved the charm of downtown. "Even before coming to Eastern we knew it had the reputation of being a suitcase campus."
So, to attract the 2,500 on-campus ECSU students to downtown, Hidalgo and fellow 2005 ECSU graduate Kenneth Bjork have designed a Willimantic-centered magazine called What's Hoppin'.
The magazine, published twice a year, will feature a phone book style listing of local Businesses such as salons and mechanic shops, articles about area attractions and advice for college students. The first issue will be free and is due out in mid-February, Bjork said.
"We really see an opportunity to help both Willimantic and Eastern by getting more students to frequent downtown and local Businesses," said Bjork, who was a Business major and has five years of experience managing and operating a Business. "In the few years we've been here, we learned that there is a lot to do in the area. The problem is that students are unaware."
Although they have only lived in Willimantic for five years, Bjork and Hidalgo see the city through the eyes of longtime residents.
On his way to Main Street to sell advertisements to shop owners, Bjork stopped to gaze at the wrought iron, wooden-decked Willimantic Footbridge.
"Here's a hidden beauty," Bjork said pointing up at the 100-year-old landmark.
"Most students don't notice this," Hidalgo added.
But Hidalgo said students will be intrigued by the footbridge when they read about it in What's Hoppin' and learn that it is on the National Register of Historic Places and is the only structure east of the Mississippi River to span a highway, railroad tracks and a river.
ECSU Junior Hanna Shea has already been surfing the website that complements the magazine, www.whatshoppin.com, to find outdoor activities for the weekends.
"I've been a student here for three years, and I'm just discovering hidden places that I wish I had found three years ago," said Shea, who goes home to North Stonington every other weekend.
There is no other resource like What's Hoppin' for ECSU students. Although about 65 percent of the students live on campus, Director of University Relations Edward Osborn said ECSU doesn't provide a lot of materials about what is going on in Willimantic.
"That's not something our office would necessarily provide," Osborn said. "We're not like the chamber of commerce."
The chamber of commerce plans to provide orientation materials about downtown Businesses, including coupons, to ECSU students this fall, Executive Director Roger Adams said. However, Adams said the chamber of commerce does not have the resources to create a full-fledged guide to downtown like What's Hoppin'.
Even if the chamber did have the resources, he said, Bjork and Hidalgo's magazine would be more successful because they know what college students like.
"It may encourage students to sample a little bit of after-class life in Willimantic, instead of saving it for the weekend and taking it home," Adams said.
Because she received little information about Willimantic when she transferred to ECSU her sophomore year, senior Lani Ireland said she always felt uncomfortable exploring a city that was labeled "Heroin Town" in 2002.
"I was very attracted to the school, but to be honest I was very reserved about coming to Willimantic at first," said Ireland, who went to school in Boston before transferring. "If there was a magazine like this I would have spent less time at home, and more time exploring the city."
To quell student safety concerns, Bjork said they plan to give the Willimantic police their own column in every issue. Most ECSU students, he said, do not realize that downtown actually has a low crime rate.
"It's much safer than other cities," Bjork said as he crossed Main Street at dusk recently. He and Hidalgo were on their way to a new consignment store, All This, And Heaven Too, which opened recently.
The owner, Cerina Federico, is interested in advertising in What's Hoppin' because her inventory, which includes used textbooks, vintage clothing, shot glass chess sets and used furniture, appeals to college students.
"Look at this," Federico said. "Ten dollars for a TV and they can kill it and throw it out when they're done."
Although most of Federico's customers haven't been college students, she is confident that a comprehensive guide like What's Hoppin' can change the demographics of downtown.
"There's a lot of opportunity," she said. "Willimantic just needs the involvement of the college students, development and brighter lights at night."
Contact Brittany Oat at boat@courant.com.