Made possible by a Travel Oregon Destination Ready investment, Albany Alley is a unique Spring to Fall dining opportunity in Downtown Albany. Here are some milestones in the process of making it happen and some fun times along the way.
June 2022 – Visitors and locals enjoy the new locations bringing coffee and treats from adjacent Margin Coffee and Natural Sprinkles Co. Others drop by enjoy strawberries, crepes and wood-fire pizza from the nearby Albany Farmers’ Market.
May 2022 – Albany Alley is the perfect spot to visit.
May 2022 – Hanging baskets are sourced and added to the new location by ADA Board Secretary Hannah Darling and her family Fritz and Isla Darling, ADA Volunteers.
Spring 2022 – A decision is made that the Albany Alley Dining Area will be in a new location for 2022. With the generous support of adjacent building owners, businesses and residents, this year the dining area is located in the parking spaces and alley adjacent to the Downtown Red Caboose at 230 Ellsworth Street SW. The Art Dumpster installation remains in the 2021 location giving us two spaces to delight visitors and residents.
Early October 2021 – Enjoying the lights in Albany Alley
October 1, 2021 – Nick Gaitaud and The Corvallis Contractor team add cafe lighting on the support cables along the entire alley. More cables and lights are installed in the dining alcove.
September 18, 2021 – Albany Alley marketing photos – photo shoot donated by Kristy Crawford Photography.
September 17, 2021 – Bamboo Valley owner, Dain Sansome, delivers our bamboo plants.
Early September – Fun photos in Albany Alley.
September 3, 2021 – First night – soft opening. Fun seating and umbrellaed dining tables. Sweet Red Bistro – charcuterie tray. First Burger – mushroom burger & tots and First Falafel & sweet potato fries.
September 2, 2021 – Pacific Power donates support cables and mounting hardware for the cafe lights and provides expert installation.
August 25, 2021 – Furnishings are moved into the shipping container. Celebratory first meal in Albany Alley – Appetizer from Sweet Red Bistro, salad from First Burger and Pad Thai from Tone Thai!
August 25, 2021 – We’ve waited months for this day!! Simple Box delivers the shipping container. Sunbelt donates the use of a giant forklift. Baldwin General Contractors provides a team to operate the forklift and move the container into place. We finally have a place to store our furnishings.
August 19, 2021 – The beautiful Art Dumpsters are delivered by Republic Services. The amazing artwork was formatted and information added by the Xtreme Grafx designers and then skilfully wrapped on the dumpsters by their installation team. See more about these unique art pieces on the Albany Alley – Art Dumpsters page.
August 17, 2021 – Rite Way Electric does the power installation donating rental of the man lift.
August 16, 2021 – Oak Harbor Freight Lines delivers chairs from Eugene. The driver was awesome to work with. Thank you to Tom Gerding & the City of Albany for storage.
August 12, 2021 – Republic Services delivers brand new matching recycling containers plus the visiting Art Dumpster by Melissa Babcock Saylor.
August 12, 2021 – Al’s Sweeping Service does a fantastic job cleaning Albany Alley in preparation for the arrival of the new recycling containers and Art Dumpsters.
August 5, 2021 – Furnishings are starting to fill the office. We like the table and umbrella!
July 13, 2021 – Mary’s Workshop delivers the hand-sewn Albany Alley entry banners. We test install one at Albany Alley!
January 27, 2021 – Presentation to Albany City Council. The Albany Alley concept receives a unanimous thumbs up from City Council.
