Old Town Cornelius After Five: How Catawba Avenue's Evenings Are Changing This Fall

How do you attract the businesses a walkable downtown needs? Cornelius Today opened its September 8 business story by calling that the question that has "for decades" shaped every conversation about downtown Cornelius. The same story gave a frank answer about where things stand. A recent wave of openings suggests real momentum, and nightlife options remain limited.

The new storefronts arrived first. The missing pieces were somewhere to go after dinner and a reason to walk from one door to the next. As of this month, both exist. Together they change what a Saturday on Catawba Avenue can look like, especially once the sun goes down.

The Corridor Filled In During Daylight Hours

Most of the recent additions are daytime businesses. Pure Olive, Starlight Bakery, Old Town Vinyl and Jaleedy's Dairy Bar have all opened along Catawba Avenue, and Dutchman's Casual Living moved to Oak Street Mill. Core Café Pilates and Bodybar Pilates added fitness studios. Pearson's House of Rock, Learn Music NC, Another9 Golf and HeartHaven Education brought lessons, recreation and classes.

Food and coffee have been filling in for a while longer. In the last year or two the corridor added Seaboy, the seafood restaurant, and The Corner Crust pizza shop. Barrel and Fork on North Main Street came under new ownership, with a new menu and a renovated exterior. Willow Wood Coffee, The Coffee Shop and Peach Cobbler Factory rounded out the coffee and dessert options.

The Cain Center for the Arts, which Cornelius Today describes as widely viewed as the catalyst for downtown investment, grew too. It opened The Puckett Pottery House and moved new offices into the Goodrum House. The Puckett Pottery House sits at 21212 Catawba Avenue. It opened May 6 with a ceramics studio, classes, workshops and an outdoor courtyard built for gatherings and performances. That courtyard ended up at the center of what came next.

Evenings did not grow at the same pace. In September, Cornelius Today reported that Barley Market, at 20052 Zion Avenue, was still the only true bar or brewery downtown. Plans for Fruitful Roots Brewery had been dropped, and the paper found no public progress on the planned Olde Mecklenburg Brewery.

October 1 Added a Late-Evening Room

The Alleyway by Harp & Crown opened on October 1 next door to Harp & Crown, which is at 19930 West Catawba Avenue, Suite 130. The Harp & Crown owners spent 16 months converting the space across the alley. Their goal was a bar that feels clearly different from the area's sports bars and live-music venues.

The details reflect that goal. The room seats 75 and is built around specialty cocktails instead of draft beer. The menu has about 20 signature drinks, a few with a Celtic theme, such as the Dublin Express, Celtic Breeze and Fake Foolery. There is a single television, tucked at one end. Jazz is planned mostly for weekends, played at background volume rather than as a rock-band set. The walls are painted black to bring out the exposed wood beams, with a chandelier and candles lighting the room at night.

"It's about bringing us back to the older times." Owner Mary Maiorino, speaking to Cornelius Today

The launch hours are 5 p.m. to midnight, Tuesday through Saturday. The owners said that schedule could change, and the lounge also hosts private events on weekends. On opening night, the food menu was charcuterie boards and appetizers made on site and at Harp & Crown. Monthly themed parties start this month with a ticketed Roaring '20s night featuring a DJ and dancing. No date had been published as of early October.

2nd Saturdays Ties the Corridor Together

Before this fall, downtown had plenty of separate places to stop and nothing that linked them. That is the job of 2nd Saturdays, which launched September 12. Organizer Case Warnemunde closed his OTPH bottle shop earlier this year to promote downtown businesses through the nonprofit Old Town Cornelius Inc. He spent months working with business owners on the event, which aims to bring more people downtown on a regular basis. The organizer says the footprint runs along and around Catawba Avenue, from Smithville Park to Antiquity.

The next one is Saturday, October 10, and the published lineup runs from breakfast into the evening.

1. 8 a.m. The Coffee Shop opens and serves $5 mimosas and $7 margaritas until 5 p.m. Drinks can be poured into a social district cup so you can carry them while you walk Old Town.
2. 10 a.m. Old Town Vinyl begins a sidewalk sale that runs until 6 p.m. Inspired at Lake Norman Co. opens the same hours.
3. 10:30 a.m. B&K Tea Cafe opens and stays open until 10 p.m. Mention 2nd Saturdays at the register for 15% off your entire order.
4. 11 a.m. The Cornelius Public Library joins in until 4 p.m.
5. Noon Peach Cobbler Factory opens and stays open until 10 p.m.
6. 1 p.m. Johnny Rocco plays "Between the Stacks" live at Old Town Vinyl until 2 p.m.
7. 5 p.m. Adam Wilson plays the Puckett Pottery House courtyard until 7 p.m. The Pottery House is open for tours during the show.

The courtyard show is free, with no tickets, and the Cain Center asks guests to bring a lawn chair. In September, Cornelius Today called the Block Party a twice-monthly event, but the Cain Center's own page now lists it as a Second Saturdays series with one performer each month.

The order of the day matters. The courtyard set ends at 7 p.m., and The Alleyway opens at 5 p.m. on Saturdays and stays open until midnight. On the second Saturday of each month, Catawba Avenue now has a planned stretch from a morning coffee to a late drink without leaving downtown.

October 10 Shares the Afternoon With Laketoberfest

October 10 is also the town's Laketoberfest, which runs 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Bailey Road Park, 11536 Bailey Road. It has live music, local beer and wine, food trucks and a kids' zone, and both admission and parking are free. For two hours that afternoon, the free courtyard set in Old Town and the town festival on Bailey Road overlap.

Bailey Road has also gained a new dinner spot this fall. Little Mama's Italian opened September 7 at 9623 Bailey Road, Suite 100. It seats 140, has a brick-oven pizza program and serves until 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday. The two events split the timing naturally. You can spend the afternoon at the festival and still catch the Old Town evening, or start with the courtyard set and head to Laketoberfest before it closes at 8.

The Fall Calendar Beyond October 10

Second Saturdays are now a fixed monthly anchor. The rest of the season fits around them.

• Through Oct. 31: The Greenway Adventure Series pairs Crafty Burg'r in Antiquity with Carrburritos in Davidson for ten themed rides on the Antiquity Greenway, with restaurant specials.
• Oct. 16: Chatham Rabbits at the Cain Center.
• Oct. 24: The Halloween Treat Trail runs 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Bailey Road Park, with trick-or-treating, hayrides, games, crafts and a movie. Preregistration is required.
• Nov. 7: Tom Cotter at the Cain Center.
• Nov. 11: The Veterans Day program runs 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Town Hall and the Veterans Monument at Rotary Plaza, 21445 Catawba Avenue. It is free.
• Nov. 14: 2nd Saturdays returns, with Redrum Flowers on the Puckett Pottery House patio from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. The library has a "Thankful Wheel" make-and-take craft from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. The full November lineup for the rest of the district has not been posted yet.
• Nov. 21: Masters of Soul at the Cain Center.
• Dec. 12: Ethan Shobert closes the year on the Puckett Pottery House patio.

Concert tickets and times can change, so check the Cain Center's fall lineup before you go. The organizer's 2nd Saturdays page usually adds business specials shortly before each date.

What Is Still Taking Shape

The Town Board recently approved a Downtown Master Plan to guide growth for the next 25 years. The town is also hiring an economic development specialist to recruit new businesses and support the ones already downtown. The Cornelius History Museum plans to open on School Street next year. Warnemunde's Old Town Business Collective, a group of downtown merchants, meets every month to coordinate events like 2nd Saturdays.

Some of the evening picture is still unfinished. A brewery in the Olde Mecklenburg plan has not moved forward publicly, and Barley Market is still the only true bar or brewery downtown, with The Alleyway now joining it as a cocktail lounge. For this fall, the clearest plan for a downtown evening is still the second Saturday: the Old Town Vinyl set at 1 p.m., the Puckett Pottery House courtyard at 5 p.m., and The Alleyway's doors open until midnight.

At Melody Fuhr, we follow what changes block by block on Catawba Avenue as well as what changes in the market. If you would like to talk about how Old Town's growth fits into your own plans in Cornelius, we would be glad to sit down with you. Schedule a White‑Glove Consultation.