The 1300 block of Ridge Avenue has had a rough go of it for many years now. At its intersection with Broad Street stands the vacant and blighted Divine Lorraine. Much of the western side of the block is taken up by the building that formerly housed the Ridge Avenue Shelter. The eastern side of the street is mostly vacant land, with a smattering of blighted or underused buildings thrown in for good measure. One bright spot on this block has been Cerulean Arts, a gallery/studio at 1355 Ridge Ave.

Cerulean Arts

In case you haven’t noticed, times are changing on this block. The Divine Lorraine will apparently be redeveloped. The shelter has closed, and is being repurposed. And it appears that Cerulean Arts is getting in on the fun. One of the few buildings on the eastern side of the street stands right next door to the gallery, and sports an old sign that simply reads ‘Blues.’ While we’d imagine that a drinking establishment of some sort once called this building home, we’d guess it’s been many years since any blues have been played here.

Change coming to the space next door

But according to a permit that we spotted on the building’s front door, the first floor of the property is slated to become a gallery space, with six live/work studios planned for the second and third floors. This is great news for this block, and will hopefully spur additional small-scale development to go along with the large projects going on in the surrounding area.

And if we may add, we hope they keep the old sign…