Feb. 26—Downtown Decatur continues to evolve, with music store Emiron shifting its location and branding, a new art gallery expanding the visual arts presence, and a government agency opening additional offices.

The gallery and offices for the North Central Alabama Regional Council of Governments are on Second Avenue Southeast between Grant Street and Gordon Drive. The business previously known as Emiron Music has moved to Bank Street.

Emiron and its predecessor music and instrument store were located on the corner of Second Avenue Northeast and East Moulton Street for 51 years. After River City Development purchased the building at 101 Second Ave. N.E., Emiron owners Ron and Emily Crow anticipated the rent for their space would increase and decided they couldn't afford to stay in that location. Extensive repairs also may be ahead for the 107-year-old building housing their shop.

Emiron will have a soft opening Friday at its new location at 806 Bank St. N.E. with a grand opening around Easter. The building has about 960 square feet as opposed to the previous building which had 10,000 square feet on each of the three floors.

The sign above the new location's door reveals a new name: The Yellow Guitar. The Emiron logo is displayed on a window as part of the branding. Bonnie Crow, 40, Ron and Emily's daughter-in-law and new manager and operator of the business, said they are trying to bring back old customers.

"It's kind of a rebrand because there were a lot of musicians that stopped shopping at Emiron, like the gig musicians. So, it was kind of a nod to, hey, we're refreshing; come check us out," Bonnie Crow said. "We're still Emiron Music ... it's just doing business as The Yellow Guitar."

Crow said they will focus more on guitars.

"We're still going to carry everything we carried before, but we're going to cater more toward the guitar and gig musician and helping students with their maintenance items," she said. "We might not have the band instruments in the future for purchase but we'll continue the rentals we have out now. We may get more in the future, but it's not going to be our main focus."

The only option considered, Crow said, involved keeping the business downtown.

"It's just a downtown kind of shop," she said. "I don't think people can survive in a mom-and-pop outside of downtown."

Kelly Thomas, Decatur Downtown Redevelopment Authority director, said they are pleased Emiron is staying downtown.

"We didn't want to lose them. They've been in downtown Decatur for over 51 years now," she said. "We're thrilled that they've relocated to Bank Street and are still with us."

Emiron has a two-year lease on its new space but also has a one-year lease next door at 804 Bank St. N.E. that will be used as a teaching studio. Crow said she plans on staying at the studio location for as long as possible.

"The teaching, that's an experiment. If we can get enough teachers to pay the rent, then we'll keep that open," she said. "If we cannot, then we are not going to keep the teaching side open."

More art downtown

Rebecca Sower, 59, plans to open an art gallery, Rebecca Sower Art, at 324-B Second Ave. S.E. — next to Tess' Place ice cream shop — around the middle or end of April. She is waiting to open until her art exhibit at the Carnegie Visual Arts Center gets close to finishing. It will be on display March 14 to April 25.

"After that I did plan to just open on a limited basis. I'm not going to be a full, retail, everyday open," Sower said. "I'll be open for events and sales, that kind of thing."

Sower said she loves the artsy downtown feel.

"I really was just looking for some good studio space with great lighting. Of course, we love the downtown area," she said. "I've already talked to other artists in town, and we'll have some sales and shows here with other artists, not just me."

Thomas said downtown Decatur welcomes artists of all kinds.

"Decatur is really becoming an art-centric community and we want to encourage that," Thomas said. "We've got the Alabama Center for the Arts college downtown so we are hoping to see many more artists and students and people that love the art locating to downtown Decatur."

Sower moved to Decatur from Nashville about two years ago and had a gallery just outside of Nashville in Springville, Tennessee.

NARCOG space

NARCOG's main office is at 216 Jackson St. S.E. in Decatur. In October, NARCOG moved its regional planning agency to space at 307 Second Ave. S.E. next to High Point Market because the Jackson Street office was becoming full.

Justin Graves, director of NARCOG's aging programs, said the agency opened another office in January at the old Albany house on the corner of Gordon Drive Southeast and Fourth Avenue.

"We've run out of room for our staff in our current building on Jackson because the Medicaid waiver staff has grown so much over the past three years," he said. "We now have more than 600 clients on the Medicaid waiver program. We currently have ... around 29 total employees in the Medicaid waiver department whereas if you go back to three years ago there was less than 10 employees."

"Transit moved back into the building on Jackson Street when the changes with the regional transit agency (on Second Avenue south of Gordon Drive) happened and Morgan County took over its rural transportation," Graves said. "There's been a lot of moving that's happened."

—erica.smith@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2460.