Redevelopment changes the tapestry of quilting capital

PADUCAH, Ky. - Dressed in black, smoking cigarettes and disaffected by youth, 22-year-old Reuben Gearhart is one of the few people who doesn't like what he sees in his rejuvenated hometown.

Too quaint, too many restaurants he can't afford, too many tourists. Especially during quilt week. Paducah is one of the world's quilting capitals, and every April the pre-eminent quilting show more than doubles the town's population.

"The thing about downtown is that it's beautifully tailored to the people they want here: rich, old people," said Gearhart, who plays drums for a band called Vicious Mistress.

Which, funny enough, is exactly right. This town's fortunes have risen during in the last decade by appealing to "rich, old people," - that is, tourists who spend money - and sprinkling in the things most visitors, young and old, would want within about 10 square blocks: quality food, cozy accommodations, art galleries and, of course, a quilting museum. Even the parking is free.

For a town of 26,000, you could call it sophisticated. The key has been two redevelopment efforts - one for the downtown, which sits on the banks of the Ohio River, and the other for the city's oldest residential neighborhood, Lowertown, where dozens of artists have been lured by the promise of cheap or free land.

Where there were blight, drugs dealers and broken sidewalks 10 years ago, there now are art galleries in restored late-19th century brick homes. The city's Artist Relocation Program has been widely hailed and frequently copied.

Paducah is not a place to look for a party, except maybe every September for Barbecue on the River, the annual festival of, you guessed it, barbecue on the river.

Instead, Paducah is a friendly and gentle place that is one of those in-between spots, where locals must look to two other states for the sports teams they call their own: the St. Louis Cardinals for baseball and the Tennessee Titans for football. It is a little bit Midwestern and a lot Southern. The bottom of Illinois sits just across the river, but "y'all" is the most common refrain. If that's not enough, there is a high school named for the wife of Confederate Gen. Lloyd Tilghman.

Even Gearhart, he of Vicious Mistress, appreciates the Southern charm.

"People have hospitality down here," he said, lighting another cigarette. "You hold a door open for someone, they don't give you a dirty look like they do up North."

Paducah was hurting not so long ago.

Like so many cities of its size, a shopping mall - that eternal ode to progress and sprawl at the edge of town - had helped kill the downtown. Buildings were shuttered and visitors were few. The adjacent and once majestic Lowertown was even worse off, its corners becoming drug-slinging and prostitution havens.

About 10 years ago, Paducah started investing in those blighted areas. With the city, bankers and arts community united, it launched its relocation program by making life unpleasant for the owners of the dilapidated Lowertown property, then offering it cheaply or for free to artists willing to move to a city they had likely never heard of. More than 70 came, and from all directions - Hawaii to Texas, Washington to Maryland. Many opened galleries, which transformed Lowertown into what it is today: a well-appointed neighborhood of renovated brick homes; clean, wide streets; with a gallery on nearly every block.

One of the first to arrive, and arguably the face of the program, was Bill Renzulli, a retired doctor who came from rural Maryland. The 69-year-old, with a salt-and-pepper goatee and small earring in his left ear, had been looking for a place to retire when he saw the relocation program advertised in the back of an art magazine.

When he and his wife visited in January 2001, the city presented its best face: They met the mayor, members of the city council and local bank officials. Lowertown was mostly a wreck, he recalled, full of dilapidated cottages and empty houses. But the city's vision impressed him.

"They were very - I don't want to say charismatic - they were enthusiastic," Renzulli said in his Gallery 5 studio, where works for sale and in progress sit in every direction: mostly vivid landscapes with a touch of abstract, splashed with muted color.

He bought his home - a shell gutted by fire - for $17,000, got a $2,500 rebate from the city and was offered as much loan money from the Paducah Bank as he needed. He spent close to 10 times his purchase price rehabbing the house into the homey brick and wood structure it is, with a porch out front for sipping wine at dusk, something he and his wife do often.

Others have repeated Renzulli's journey to Paducah dozens of times; about 15 galleries now dot the Lowertown streets, and the neighborhood has become a tourism touchstone. Most of the galleries are housed in wonderfully handsome old buildings, and inside you'll find any number of media: painting, sculpture, photography, jewelry and even a few quilts.

"Coming here was a gamble, and it's one of the best things I've ever done," said Judeen Theis, a retired high school counselor who moved from Corpus Christi, Texas. She bought the Lowertown land where she built her home and studio for $2,000.

"There's always enough to do, it's pretty, and you can always go across the river and gamble in Metropolis," Illinois, she said.

Which gets to another truth about this place: It would be difficult to pass more than a weekend in Paducah. In Lowertown, make that an afternoon, because despite the neighborhood's galleries, it isn't exactly abuzz. There is one cafe, Etcetera, and there are no restaurants. Many of the galleries are open only for a few hours at the end of the week, and some are open only seasonally.

A bigger problem has been that many of the relocating artists who thought they could make a living by selling art in Paducah were wrong. Those who have succeeded have customers in another state or on the Web. Those who didn't, left.

But there is no question that the artists have infused culture, vibrancy and economy. That lone cafe, for instance, has started open-microphone poetry readings on Friday nights, something you wouldn't have found two years ago.

"There's no limitations for what we want to do in the arts in Paducah," said Hannah Grey, 24, a musician who came four years ago with her artist mother from Jacksonville, Ill. "When I got here, there was nothing. It's grown by leaps and bounds. Now people are coming from all over the world to" - she pauses as if she can barely believe it - "Paducah." *

SLEEPING: Plenty of Paducah B&Bs offer typical antique and artistic charm, but Escape B&B (escapebb.com; 270-442-3612), a couple of miles from downtown, is an interesting change of pace. The single-story brick home and seemingly dicey neighborhood don't inspire at first glance, but inside all is well - and with a movie theme to boot. Breakfast comes out of cellophane, but the place is clean, comfortable, the hosts are friendly, and all for $65 a night. All three rooms can be had for $150. Fox Briar Inn (foxbriarinn.com; 877-369-4661), housed in a wonderful old brick building, is downtown's most historic accommodation. The rooms essentially function as apartments.

DINING: Ask about Cynthia's (cynthiasristorante.com; 270-443-3319) and locals will say two things: It's great and it's expensive. The menu is full of classic offerings done dazzlingly right - meat, fish and pasta all fresh and prepared with care. Pastas, breads and desserts are all homemade. Kirchhoff's (kirchhoffsbakery.com; 270-442-7117), which has had a presence in town since 1873, serves an excellent lunch. Max's Brick Oven (270-575-3473) offers quality dinners, especially their brick oven-fired pizzas.

THINGS TO DO: The reborn Lowertown neighborhood has nearly 15 art galleries with artwork made mostly by residents who came to Paducah through the Artist Relocation Program. The Museum of the American Quilter's Society (quiltmuseum.org), which is in the process of renaming itself the National Quilt Museum, is actually a great time. The Yeiser Art Center (theyeiser.org), in the heart of downtown, is a small space dedicated to local artists and worth a visit.