It is what it is – but that’s Marshall Street’s charm.

‘It’s the college street – the typical college street,’ said senior economics major Eric Choi. ‘Every school has one. It’s ours.’

As Syracuse University’s ‘college-town’ area, Marshall Street provides the school with a much-needed charm and its retailers with a built-in economy. In many respects, it’s a symbiotic relationship.

That’s why, in February of 1999, the university and the Crouse-Marshall Business Association (CMBA) joined together and formulated the Crouse-Marshall Revitalization Project to create a plan of overhauling the then-run-down area.

‘When parents used to come down here and it looked trashy, they would complain, not realizing it wasn’t university-owned,’ said Bill Nester, partial owner of Manny’s.

When the New York drinking age changed from 18 to 21 in 1987, the area took a severe hit, said Jerry Dellas, president of the CMBA. According to Dellas, fewer students frequented the area, businesses suffered severe losses and the telephone poles covered with fliers no longer seemed like a novelty – instead, they stood out for being ugly.

‘As Marshall Street deteriorated, it was a thorn to the university because of how it looked,’ Dellas said.

With the revitalization plan, the university and the CMBA hoped to curb this problem. Underground went the telephone wires, and down came the telephone poles. In their place, light posts, trash receptacles and seating areas were installed and trees were planted. As an added touch, the street’s pavement was torn up and replaced with a two-toned brick roadway and sidewalks.

This week the final trees, light posts and trash cans are being added to South Crouse Avenue and East Adams Street, bringing the project – which cost the state $3.8 million in grants – to its completion.

The History

Dellas remembers a time when the area didn’t need mending. His family, which owns Varsity Pizza and Faegan’s Caf & Pub, has seen the university and street’s relationship evolve firsthand over the years. In 1926, when Dellas’ grandfather started the Varsity out of a house on South Crouse Avenue, Marshall Street and Crouse were part of the university. Before the streets were redone, however, the university viewed the area as a separate entity, Dellas said.

He remembers seeing students and professors meet up to eat at the area restaurants and stop by for a drink or two. This simple act, Dellas said, is what created the affinity students now hold for the area.

The university has taken note of this relationship. Two years ago, Dellas said, the street was pictured in the university’s admissions application booklet.

‘Marshall Street is not necessarily on the admissions office tours,’ said Kevin Morrow, university spokesman. ‘But having Marshall Street and South Crouse nearby is definitely a benefit to the university.’

The Nightlife

Morrow is quick to note the shops and restaurants in the area as being responsible for the benefits, but students like Choi are quick to cite the street’s other asset: the bars.

‘It constitutes at least 50 percent of the nightlife,’ Choi said. ‘Unless you’re under 21 – and even if you are – it’s still a great place to go. It’s an integral part of the university.’

It would be tough for the university to acknowledge the benefits of the bars, especially since the school has tried to shed its partying image. But Choi thinks it’s short-sighted not to.

‘School’s not all about studying and books,’ he said. ‘Other than M-Street, the city is pretty boring. When I have friends up, it’s definitely a first stop.’

The restaurants are also a key proponent of the area, Choi said. He’s much more likely to bring his friends to Marshall Street than swipe them into the dining hall.

The Competition

In addition to restaurants, a number of other Marshall Street businesses, like apparel shops and bookstores, aim to draw students away from campus.

‘There’s nothing wrong with some competition,’ Morrow said.

Historically, though, the university hasn’t taken this stance.

While establishing Manny’s, an SU apparel shop, proprietors endured a number of attacks from the university. Lillian Slutzker, who helped found the store with her husband Manny, said when the two of them tried selling books to students, the university forbid professors from telling the store what books they were ordering. When the shop started selling apparel, the university sued them for trademark infringement.

Today the relationship is far different.

‘We try to send people to the university bookstore if they want something we don’t have,’ Nester said.

The Chancellor’s Goal

While few would consider Marshall Street to be part of Syracuse’s downtown area, building a strong relationship between the university and the rest of the city has been a part of Chancellor Nancy Cantor’s credo since taking her position earlier this year.

With the new management school being built next to the commercial Marshall Street business district and other buildings, including Huntington Hall, already existing there, the campus is beginning to surround the area. But with expansion making the campus line less distinguishable, it has become just as common to see a campus safety vehicle on Marshall Street as it is to see a city police vehicle on campus.

With the Syracuse Police Department and the Department of Public Safety often working together because of this, the two organizations faced little difficulty when planning to help campus officials train for their recently gained peace officer status, said Lt. Joe Cecile of the Syracuse Police.

‘Our relationship is great,’ Cecile said. ‘I’m in contact with (DPS) every day.’

The Booming Economy

Relationships like these are ones Cantor hopes to foster with the rest of the city, and the revitalization project may have been the first step toward accomplishing this goal.

‘This is a front door for the university,’ Nester said. ‘If your front door is clean, that’s a good representation to the community’

Now that the revitalization project is coming to an end, business on Marshall Street has improved, as well. While business may have been down prior to the project’s start, Dellas said the economy has experienced a significant bounce back.

‘Everyone’s business here is up again,’ he said.

Dellas admits this vast improvement is mostly due to the university’s eagerness to improve its relationship with Marshall Street’s retailers.

‘We work together now a heck of a lot more than we used to,’ Dellas said.

Dellas said he now sees more students and professors together in the area, which he believes is a direct result of this improved communication and the revitalization project that stemmed from it. This sight, he said, has made it clear that the relationship between the university and the street is now more like it used to be when Marshall Street was still beginning to form. For the most part, he credits Syracuse University.

‘The university felt Marshall Street should become more of a part of the campus,’ Dellas said. ‘And with the new brick walkways, you can barely tell that we aren’t.’

Published on October 31, 2004 at 12:00 pm