What’s making downtown Lexington cool?

Mayberry meets a modern Main Street in downtown Lexington.

The parking is free, but the traffic can be heavy. A mailman walks door-to-door from a sewing store to a beer tasting room. Clean benches on well-landscaped sidewalks line the path between law offices and a coffee shop and a men’s clothing store and more, all at work behind colorful, cheery storefronts.

Tucked behind all this, a block off Lexington’s Main Street, the year-old Icehouse Amphitheater is a symbol of and a key to how this small town is growing up and into a hip destination.

The amphitheater is intimate and modern, with steep, tiered lawn seating that gets you up-close and personal with performers on the sleek, awning-covered stage. It has an easy, neighborhood-park kind of vibe, and it draws a variety of acts and people.

“They did it right,” said Mike Tanner, who performed at Icehouse recently with the Soda City Cirque circus variety troupe.

Icehouse is the realization of the town’s long-wished-for entertainment venue and community gathering place. And it’s the new anchor of the ever-increasing cool factor of downtown Lexington.

“Icehouse Amphitheater is one of the best things that could happen to downtown Lexington,” said John Clinger, who owns the popular Old Mill Brewpub just down the street. “Anything that happens at the amphitheater draws attention to downtown Lexington, so it helps us all.”

The amphitheater was born of town leaders’ vision to make Main Street a true hospitality district with restaurants and retail businesses that would draw people downtown.

How to bring the businesses? Bring the people – draw them in with entertainment.

Icehouse opened last October with a capacity of about 1,000 people. In its first year, it has hosted events ranging from free concert series to a middle-school chorus concert to a beer festival to a packed-out performance by South Carolina-born rock artist Edwin McCain. And the crowds have been as diverse as the performances.

“The residents of Lexington are excited there’s something going on in their hometown now,” said Walker Brewer, the town’s downtown venue promoter.

More and better things to do downtown is a key to keeping young talented people in Lexington, said Jeremy Addy, who owns Craig Reagin Clothiers on Main Street.

A 2009 graduate of Lexington High School, Addy noticed that as his peers grew up, “most of them weren’t coming back to Lexington.”

“I knew what they were capable of and the people they were going to become – the kind of people you’d want to retain in Lexington because they’ll contribute great things to society,” Addy said. “Lexington isn’t a small town anymore. There needs to be something offered to retain people from moving away.”

The amphitheater is a piece of that “something.”

Although, Addy isn’t shy about pointing out some of the growing pains and flaws of the amphitheater and the town’s plans for growth.

A scarcity of parking, for one, could keep people from having the best possible experience at the amphitheater and at downtown businesses, he notes. And without proper planning, problems like that could be counterproductive to the mission of enlivening downtown, he said.

At the moment, though, the town’s efforts – and the amphitheater’s influence – appear to be producing positive effects downtown: At least two new restaurants are under construction on Main Street.

RELATED: One of the restaurants coming to Lexington’s Main Street

And many are hoping to see that positive momentum keep rolling.

“I see more likelihood that it’s going to attract businesses that are going to generate more interest and awareness of the Lexington community,” Clinger said. “We’re all feeding off of this.”

This story was originally published September 20, 2017 at 12:18 PM with the headline "What’s making downtown Lexington cool?."