Construction on Broadway has begun, and city planners hope the renovation — which will open the street to vehicular traffic — will rejuvenate downtown Eugene, bringing life back to the business district, enticing buyers to shop at new venues and providing new local housing.
During the first three weeks of construction, however, the effects of the project have been the opposite.
While remaining Broadway businesses expect the renovation, scheduled for completion in late August, to benefit them in the long run, sales have dropped in the wake of construction.
“Most people don’t want to look at a construction site when they sip their coffee,” said Doug Randels, co-owner and manager of Theo’s Coffee House.
Randels said business didn’t decline too much during the first week of construction, but added it has since dwindled by 15 to 20 percent.
Randels said he expects the finished project to boost business, but right now it is difficult to gauge the end result.
The Broadway Opening Project, approved by more than two-thirds of voters in the September 2001 Lane County special election, will open Broadway to motor vehicles from Oak to Charnelton Streets. The project, costing about $2.4 million, will create landscaped medians, 10-foot wide traffic lanes, wide sidewalks and street-side parking, said Bud DeSantis, engineering project manager for the city of Eugene.
DeSantis said the result will be similar to the section of Broadway between Pearl and Oak Streets.
Jeff Passarelli, owner of Blooms on Broadway, said retail stores on Broadway have been declining during the past five years. Many businesses, he said, were hurt by a lack of motor accessibility.
Passarelli said the construction stigma has brought about a decline in his business.
About 90 percent of the sales at his flower shop come from people who drive, he said. And while the businesses’ parking lot isn’t on Broadway, Passarelli said he believes many locals think Blooms is closed.
“They see the fencing and think businesses are inaccessible,” said Passarelli, who has been at his Broadway location for five years. “Perception becomes a reality.”
Passarelli said it is too early to tell how construction will affect long-term business. After a busy Mother’s Day, the following months will be the most telling, he said.
“The end result is going to be a good thing,” Passarelli said. “It’s just a matter of making it through the construction period.”
City Councilor Scott Meisner, who represents the downtown ward, said opening Broadway isn’t a cure-all solution to the declining district but added it’s a step in the right direction.
“There is no single thing that is going to do all of it,” he said.
Meisner sympathized with businesses that must endure the construction process but said the benefits of the project will be worth the wait.
“It had to happen,” he said.
Businesses that aren’t directly affected by the construction face changes, too.
Jim Olsen, manager of the Cat’s Meow Jazz & Blues store, said he thinks the project will bring more people back downtown. Although Cat’s Meow is located on an already open section of Broadway, newly formed traffic patterns should enhance local sales, he said.
He said that once word spreads of the opening, overall business should pick up, with more residents moving into the area and shopping at nearby stores.
“Who shops will depend on what businesses go in,” he said.
Project Specialist Jenny Leavitt said her employer, Oregon Small Business Development Center Network, hasn’t seen a decline in business because of the nature of the company’s work.
Operations have been affected, however.
The company, which now resides in the nearly vacant office building near Willamette and Olive streets, was given an eviction notice earlier this year. The building will become one of the growing number of condominium complexes in the downtown area, and all current businesses at her location must be out by June 30.
Meisner said he is excited about the opportunity to house local tenants downtown.
“What a perfect time to redevelop,” he said.