At first glance, the presence of the Tracy Academy of Dance — a spin-off of the Marshall Academy of Dance that has found a new home in the former Summit Place building on 3rd Street — might not seem like it would benefit downtown Tracy all that much, but that’s not necessarily the case.
In fact, Tracy Economic Development Coordinator Jeff Carpenter is excited about the potential impact the dance academy could have in the downtown area.
But it’s not a retail store. So why the excitement?
For starters, the reputation of the dance program itself is strong in the region, and Carpenter is confident the business will take off here. And that means more traffic downtown.
“We just need to coordinate them with places like Bonnie’s Boutique and Lights & Beyond — they have to be open when they’re open,” Carpenter said. “There’s a lot of moms or dads that will be there. When they have dance for two hours and all those students — those parents need to go someplace for an hour-and-a-half. That’s why we’d like something like a coffee shop down there, too. What do they do if they’re from out of town? Do they drive home?”
See this week’s Headlight Herald for more on this article.