By Joseph Ellsworth
Like the mythological phoenix that emerges from the ashes, local restaurants and music venues seem to rise as quickly as they fall on the 100 N. block of University Ave. in Provo.
In the last 10 years, several businesses have come and gone from the building, including the quickly deflated Blue Coyote Grill and its predecessor Wrapsody.
In 1998 Pier 49 pizzeria left the location for Springville after a run of several years in business. Since then, tenant turnover has been unusually high.
Insufficient parking is often blamed for the tenant turnover.
'There''s really no convenient parking on the whole block,' said Mark Bellini, owner of the space at 117 N. University Ave. 'The parking really hurts.'
The building''s front entrances face University Ave., making parking difficult. If the busy street weren''t daunting enough, the red-painted curb in front of most of the building is.
Dragon''s Keep owner Jim Brown said his customer base is limited to regulars who don''t mind parking across the busy street or several blocks away. Browsers and sidewalk shoppers are practically non-existent in his store because of the lack of curbside parking, he said.
Wrapsody and Blue Coyote''s failure provides more insight into the building''s recent turnover. Bellini, who was a co-owner of Wrapsody, shifts more of the blame on weak demand in Provo for the live music and restaurant environment.
'With Wrapsody I always felt like I was trying to force something down peoples'' throats that they didn''t want,' Bellini said.
After Wrapsody closed, the Blue Coyote restaurant opened in Spring 2000. According to commercial real estate agent Jim Clark, the restaurant''s owners were to blame for its downfall.
Clark said several restaurants failed because the owners didn''t have enough experience in running a business.
The current business at 117 N. University Ave. is Papa Lee''s restaurant. Co-owner Lee Measom is optimistic about the future of his Jimmy Buffet-inspired tropical grill, and he isn''t too worried about the parking.
'It really hasn''t been much of a problem,' Measom said. 'If I''m providing the type of experience that you want in eating, and the type of food you want, you don''t mind walking half a block. A lot of us should be doing that anyway.'
According to Bellini, the location has promise despite the parking problem.
'That location could make it if you had something good down there,' Bellini said. 'There is a ton of people downtown and they could walk there for lunch. And at night there''s lots of parking all over the place.'
And help may soon be on the way. The First Security Bank building south of the block is scheduled for demolition soon. Wells Fargo, who recently merged with First Security, is planning to build a 10-story high-rise building that will facilitate dozens of new public parking spots.