Newton Falls has a fresh new space where visitors can relax and enjoy the downtown atmosphere. 

Local business owner's recent renovations to an alleyway are their idea of bringing in more foot traffic in the area. 

"We notice other towns have alleys like Umbrella Alley and Dave Grohl Alley," explained Tom Colosimo, Owner of Fieldview Acres Mercantile. "And we wanted to have something special like that, too."

Surrounding the Broad Street alleyway are dozens of small businesses, including Healthy Treasures, Broken Leaf Cafe, and Synergy Martial Art Academy. The Owners of Fieldview Acres Mercantile wanted to give the alley a makeover, all in effort to bring more visitors into town. 

"It was a mess," Colosimo added. "It needed a ton of work. It needed a facelift." Colosimo and his wife have put about $15k into the space, so far.

"This is great because it gives an incentive to other business owners to step up and try to prop their business up and the rest of the businesses in town," said Mayor Dave Hanson.

Named after Colosimo's daughter, Emilia's Sole Alleata will welcome additional seating, events, musicians, even cigar rolling classes and paint-and-sip classes next year.

Every storefront in Downtown Newton Falls is filled for the first time in a decade. Colosimo hopes the alley space will give another reason why people should stop downtown.

"When we opened Fieldview Acres Mercantile four years ago, only half of these storefronts were occupied. COVID-19 did hurt businesses and downtown was struggling," he said. "And we were hoping to revitalize it and we're hoping this might help."

"We have a lot of things going on in town," Hanson added. "We have nice restaurants, bars, and we got a distillery that just opened. This is a great place to get photos taken and kick back. Our downtown businesses will benefit by this because it's another small accoutrement here on Broad Street. So, we want to invite everybody to come on out."

A stained-glass sunflower will be installed in the alleyway next year, along with additional stained-glass lighting fixtures. 

"The community loves it so far," Colosimo added. "The alleyway has been closed for renovations and we finally got it decorated. It's already being used for photo-ops."

The alleyway is free of charge to enjoy. You can find the space at 42 W Broad Street Newton Falls, OH 44444.