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After disastrous 2020, downtown Boise charts a long recovery and revival

The Boise Revival Project was formed to help struggling restaurants and musicians in downtown Boise.

BOISE, Idaho — The coronavirus pandemic caused a swift and sudden economic downturn for much of the world and as the light at the end of the tunnel becomes brighter, a coalition of businesses in downtown Boise are working together to help in what will likely be a lengthy recovery.

The Boise Revival Project was formed to help struggling restaurants and musicians in downtown Boise.

Duane Paris, the owner of Firenza Pizza in downtown Boise, told KTVB that he is doing everything he can to keep his business's doors open.

"This is a make it or break it summer for us, we really need to have a strong summer," he said. "It's just too tough when we lose 40-45 percent of our business in the second year that we were open."

Paris said he wants to get 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic behind them and looks forward to summer activities, including live music.

"We hope to build the bridge back to community, restauranters, and musicians again," he said.

The Boise Revival Project is being spearheaded by Melissa Brodt, who plans to support downtown businesses with live music throughout the summer months.

"Boise needs a revival and so that's where the idea came from," she said. "In the coming weeks, we hope other businesses will join in and be a part of the Boise Revival Project and we will make those announcements on the website."

Currently, the plan is to hold it at Firenza but Brodt wants to expand.

"The more we work together to focus on getting bands down here, people down here, getting community to understand its safe to be downtown, that it's a fun place to be, and work on growing that business and opportunity for everyone," she said.

Tickets for the events are $10 and the group is looking for sponsors to help cover the costs of the musicans.

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