This is the first part of a series examining the growth, variety and constant change occurring on Madison’s State Street.

State Street may just be a road stemming from the Capitol, a route to the University of Wisconsin campus and a great place to find a beer, but the street itself provides more than that for the city. This iconic niche changes with the years — it lived through the Vietnam protests and the Halloween riots — but still remains intact.

Sandy Torkildson, president of the Greater State Street Business Association and owner of the bookstore A Room of One’s Own, said the unusual market of students, tourists and people living downtown allows different businesses to thrive with their own unique niches.

“State Street is always changing,” Torkildson said. “[I] went to school here, I lived on State Street and I’ve had a business on Johnson Street for 30 years … but it’s always changing.”

According to Jill Lundberg, Downtown Madison Inc. (DMI) vice president, the changing atmosphere on the street does not ban chains or large restaurants. Instead, she added there are landlords who tend to rent to locally owned businesses over chains and work by the city to keep the variety alive downtown.

“There’s no real uniformity on State Street, but there are definitely landlords that care about State Street and are doing their part to keep it unique,” Lundberg said.

Lundberg added the addition of the Overture Center has been one of the largest changes on the street that will continue to morph the thoroughfare.

“In a year from now, there might be some bigger changes, but right now we’re at the cusp of it,” Lundberg said.

According to Torkildson, land on State Street is at a premium and the city is working on zoning regulations to keep the buildings between two and three stories.

Lundberg agreed property values are increasing and it is due to the fact Madison is a “hot” place to be.

“People are wanting to be here and how that will pan out and affect business will be interesting to see in the next few years,” Lundberg said. “But the city is well aware of the value of keeping this downtown unique and local.”

DMI put on a series of four downtown business summits starting in May of this year. The summits dealt with the needs of small-business retailers and their survival on the street.

Lundberg said they also pay for holiday decorations and planter flowers and produce a map and guide to the downtown area.

“We work really hard to make sure the environment looks right,” Lundberg said.

Lundberg said the reconstruction is like owning a home in a high-density area — it requires a cleanup.

The reconstruction of State Street, although messy, will enhance the street in the end. She added it would allow more space for outdoor vending in front of many businesses.

Jeff Mackesey, facilities manager of the Irish Pub, said it is a challenging time to deal with the drawn-out construction. Mackesey added he has watched some of his long-time neighboring retailers disappear, such as Puzzlebox.

“The only thing this street has going for it is little unique stores that have a different conglomeration of things than the chains have,” Mackesey said. “And that’s what brings people down here in the first place.”

According to Torkildson, the 100 block construction last summer was done efficiently and allowed access to local businesses.

“The city government learned a lot about that construction,” Torkildson said. “[T]he businesses are always concerned about construction because it’s a long ordeal.”

She added it is unfortunate the city is forced to plan construction over several years because of costs and logistics.

Mackesey added restaurants and bars tend to have an easier time in the competitive market, especially during construction, but that people do come to the street for the retail overall.

“I see little struggling independent retailers and it’s frightening. Once you lose the environment, you cannot bring it back,” he said.

Torkildson added there has been an increase in the number of restaurants and bars as the nature of State Street has become more focused on entertainment.

“There is this pressure for it to become more and more about entertainment,” she said. “But I hope that it doesn’t become [exclusively] bars and restaurants.”

Torkildson added visitors downtown find State Street unique because it is an “eclectic mix” of retail and a number of locally owned restaurants.

“Where else can you go and find this kind of diversity?” Torkildson questioned.