Music Beat

Signs on Plumas Street point toward midtown businesses to the east.

PHOTO/JERI CHADWELL

RTC is encouraging midtown shops to participate in an incentive program to generate commerce along Virginia, with a variety of strategies being considered. One has RTC itself purchasing gift cards from businesses along Virginia and distributing them to road work crews.

Good news needed

It’s been just over three weeks since construction began. Two-way traffic is scheduled to resume on Virginia Street in February, but the project will not wrap up until 2020. Conversations with employees and owners on Sept. 21 revealed that, in addition to taking advantage of the RTC’s efforts and incentives, midtown businesses are making strategies of their own to survive years of construction. And while some reported faring fine so far, others said they’re already feeling the effects.

At Craft Wine and Beer on Martin Street, owner Ty Martin said construction has so far “made no difference at all” in his day-to-day, despite the fact that his business has yet to be listed on the Plumas Street construction signs.

“I was going to make an issue of that because I noticed there are a bunch, and then, like, one or two blocks before my street, there isn’t one. They just haven’t done one. … I assume that when I ask, they will produce one. It’s probably because it’s only me and Junkee currently, unless you include the check cashing place.”

At Shea’s Tavern, bartenders joked that the construction schedule was designed to leave plenty of vacant storefronts “for Starbucks when construction’s over,” and co-owner Jerry Shea was annoyed that road work that day had resulted in a broken water main that left his bar without water for several hours. But, in the end, he expects things will be fine with his business. “Our customers would skateboard down here, if they had to,” he said. However, just a few doors south at Crystal Cove—a shop that sells crystals, stones and minerals—manager Zack Burnside said it’s a different story. “This is the epitome of who’s going to go under—a fucking crystal shop,” Burnside said. He’s been with the company since it opened two-and-a-half years ago but worries it’s not established enough to survive. “Objectively, you can get around it and find a parking space, but people don’t have that kind of time,” he said. “I feel like we’re getting fucked. If this is how it’s going to be for a while … say goodbye to midtown. I’ve been staying positive about it, but today’s kind of a breaking point.” Business has also been slower a few blocks south at the Chocolate Walrus—an adult store and costume shop. But owner Tammy Borde said it’s not a problem that can be blamed entirely on construction. “People are not aware that there is more parking than normal,” she

Is said, referring to temporary diagonal parking spots painted midtown near her business and additional parking behind it on established Holcomb Avenue. Borde said one of her enough yet to concerns is that the media will only tell “negative” survive? construction stories which will scare customers away. “Hopefully they’ll still come,” she said. “If you print the good stuff and let people know, they’ll still come.” Süp co-owner Kasey Christensen echoed Borde’s concerns. “The most impactful thing, I think, for most of our businesses is that we don’t want people to think it’s so difficult for people to get down here or that construction is so horrible,” she said. “We’ve really been trying to get the media on our side, to share it in a positive way. … We need a new hashtag— ‘It’s not that bad.’” Ω