Gallery 119 reopens as The Zone is cleared out after years of massive homeless encampment
PHOENIX - Art and business are back in the area called The Zone in downtown Phoenix.
The encampment was filled with hundreds, and at a point more than a thousand, of homeless people for several years.
The Zone is now gone after it was cleared by the city this week under a court order.
'The Zone' cleanup complete: Business owners say 'it's a major relief'
This week, the city of Phoenix successfully finished their clean up of "The Zone," a homeless encampment near downtown. The sweep comes after a judge imposed a Nov. 4 deadline to remove tents, trash, and makeshift structures, while finding housing for people to move to.
A day later, an art gallery owner who spearheaded a lawsuit against the city reopened his doors.
Gallery 119 was surrounded by homeless people who set up tents and moved in, essentially stopping clients from visiting and shutting the gallery down.
Nov. 4 was its first day back open in nearly four years.
Joel Coplin and his wife own Gallery 119. It was once the perfect industrial space for their vision until the homeless encampment slowly moved in.
"If somebody knocks on the door, we open the door, but I don't leave the door open because we have to keep a constant lookout. You just don't know who's going to wander in," Coplin said.
He was forced to close his doors, leaving art hanging on the walls.
This week, that changed.
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The city of Phoenix officially disbanded The Zone after a court order and placed more than 500 people in shelters.
"It's a relief and a half. We're now able to open. You can see there is parking. People are not afraid to come down here. I think it's going to be a renaissance for the whole neighborhood," he said.
The change is a bag of mixed emotions though. The people living on the streets became his friends.
Some even inspired the works of art that now hang on his gallery walls.
"It's a little lonely. I've lived with these people for a year or more, and you get to know them and you get to know their kids. And so, I don't know where they've gone," Joel said.
But, it is a true renaissance, allowing new artists to debut their work to the world.
"I was here last week dropping off my artwork and it was quite a madhouse. They were clearing everything out. But it's good that they can now have events here again. It's a very good thing," Billy Boatta said.
Gallery attendees call the opening a win for the arts.
"Artists, whenever they're involved in an area, it comes back to life. Look at Bisbee or Jerome. It was artists that had a hand in resurrecting those ghost towns and now they're vibrant centers of travel and art and history," Vince Kasitch said.