Street improvements on Commercial create frustrations

Excited about the street’s rebirth as a burgeoning arts and entertainment district, the entrepreneurs initially welcomed the improvements. Then, in early August, the first problem arose.

After tearing up the street, contract workers discovered the soil below was too moist to support the new road, said Jason Haynes, an engineer with the city’s Public Works Department.

Feeling the time crunch, city officials decided to dig two feet deeper and backfill the cavity with rocks, Haynes said. The work cost an additional $100,000, he said.

More complications arose when City Utilities expressed concern about an aging water main the city ultimately decided to replace for more than $40,000, Haynes said.

Given the circumstances, he added, the city acted relatively quickly and in the best interest of the public by deciding to rebuild the street and install a new main.

Rebuilding the road lengthened the project but was the best course of action, said Mary Beth Daniels of general contractor Hunter Chase & Associates.

“That’s the price of progress, I guess,” she said.

But the price was almost too great for some Commercial Street business owners who said they endured a summer of dismal sales.

“We’ve been basically shut down all summer, which has been extremely hard for us,” said Debbie Bunch, who owns The Style, 211 E. Commercial St. “We depend on our walk-ups and drive-bys.”

Formerly Nellie Dunn’s, The Style is among a group of stores on Commercial that offer an eclectic blend of vintage clothing, antiques and collectibles. But business at these shops slowed to a trickle this summer as delays pushed back the completion date.

At Top Dog Flea Market, 220 E. Commercial St., owner Tracy Perkins said sales this summer dipped lower than in the weeks following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

“There have been weeks I only did $50, and it didn’t even pay the utilities,” he said. “This is my sole income, and I’ve got everything invested in it.”

While some of Perkins’ peers have cut back on hours, he stayed open in hopes that customers would brave the construction zone to visit his store.

The city’s Haynes said the problems weren’t unique to Commercial Street. A similar streetscape project on Boonville Avenue between Water and Phelps streets also ran into obstacles and caused headaches for business owners, he said.

Still, Bunch and Perkins would like to see the city offer some sort of compensation for lost sales revenue. Haynes said he’s not aware of the city ever reimbursing businesses harmed financially by construction delays.

“The least they could do is give us a couple months’ rent and utilities,” Bunch said.

As entrepreneurial pioneers who “stuck it out” through Commercial Street’s darker days, Perkins said he and other business owners deserve the city’s consideration.

“We would appreciate anything, and I know the city could afford to help us if they really cared about us,” he said.