EVP Coffee has opened a new
neighborhood coffee shop at 1250 E. Washington, open 6am to 6 pm Monday through
Friday, and 7 am to 3 pm on weekends. They also roast their own coffee on site.
EVP is owned by Tracy Danner and Anno O'Connor, and I talked with Tracy one
recent rainy morning about her business plans.
The location at 1250 E. Washington
is EVP's second, with the first being Etes-Vous Prets Coffee on Highland Ave.
near UW Hospital. The women had been roasting their coffee in the Madison
Enterprise Center on Baldwin Street and have now moved that operation into the
back of their new second shop. In looking for a location, Tracy said they knew
they wanted to stay on the east side. They received help from Alderman Brenda
Konkol in choosing their new site, and want to contribute to the Tenney
neighborhood by providing a safe and friendly space for all to gather for
coffee, conversation, and meetings. Tracy noticed the immediate area had no
spaces of this kind and wanted to fill a need rather than competing with other
nearby shops for the same customers.
The women hope EVP can helpturn
Washington Avenue, which is not now the most attractive gateway to the
downtown, into a more inviting street. Tracy believes small businesses can
revitalize, one by one, underutilized lots and buildings until the street
becomes an integral part of the neighborhood nearby instead of just a busy
thoroughfare headed toward the Capitol. EVP has made a good start by opening
the front of their blocky little building with windows and painting it a
cheerful tangerine orange. The airy, sophisticated interior has both tables and
couches where guests can relax and taste EVP's freshly roasted coffees, said to
set the standard for excellence in Madison. A rotating display of art and
photography decorates the walls, and future plans include possible live music
and readings. On the rainy afternoon I visited, the soft urban hiss of passing
cars added to the ambiance.
EVP is fully handicapped
accessible, with no steps, a small parking lot on the side with dedicated space
for handicapped users, and even a bus stop right in front of the store. Tracy
was glad to comply with all the accessibility codes and would have done so even
if they were voluntary. Later she and Anno hope to add outdoor seating in a
vacant lot to the east of the building that now has a strange floor of red
vinyl tile.
I was curious about the history of the tile floor and the Baldwin-Washington corner, and a little research uncovered the fact EVP is not the first neighborhood coffee shop on the site. Starting before the 1950s and running through the 1970s, the spaces on both sides of 1250 held a series of little restaurants including the Nibble Nook at 1244 and the Corral at 1252 (which must have had the red tile floor). The space at 1250 was Haack's Bicycle up through the early 60s when that building was demolished and replaced by a Citizens Loan and Finance in 1968. Citizens didn't last long and a machine shop and parts company took over, followed by a cleaning service which was the building's most recent tenant preceding EVP. The little restaurants vanished in the early 1970s around the time Gisholt, the big factory across the street, closed.
So Tracy and Anno are bringing
1250 full circle as it returns to neighborhood service as a coffee shop. It's
easy to picture the whole of East Washington filling once again with neighbors
and workers doing business, sprucing up old buildings and starting new
projects. Walk around the corner and visit!
-Mary
Pulliam
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Summer 2003 Table of Contents