COTTAGE GROVE – There’s no sugarcoating it: Sometimes the Main Street Revitalization project can be a real pain in the ear. It isn’t too pleasant on the other senses, either.
The sense of community pride, though, is still standing strong … for the most part. The steady grind of construction work, the dusty atmosphere, and the slightly inconvenient parking hasn’t scared away too many people.
“I like to say it’s like we’re having heart surgery,” said Georgia Haskell, Cottage Grove Chamber of Commerce Staff CEO. “The best thing you can do is come and see us.
“We’ve got the warm weather coming up. … I think we have to get used to it being a little dirty and a little loud. Like our stamp card says, ‘Pardon Our Dust,’ but we’re still open.”
Those stamp cards are available all over town. The first weekly drawing for $500 worth of gift certificates is Friday during Art Walk. Visit six businesses to get six stamps on your card, then turn it in to the Chamber.
City officials are running promotions and doing what they can to keep things fun, because they can see that this project affects a lot of livelihoods.
“There are some people who are scared, and change is scary,” City Project Coordinator Shauna Neigh said. “But I think everybody realizes this is something that’s had to happen in order to keep our streets safe. The current condition of the sidewalks with the trees – there are tripping hazards that need to be addressed. We are also addressing the needs for Americans with Disabilities in our downtown corridor. …
“The main things we wanted to address were the ADA compliance issues, and also the safety – we wanted to make it very safe for people walking downtown – and also beautification. As a part of the project, we will be widening sidewalks so there’s more seating out front. We’ve worked really hard to make a really beautiful streetscape.”
While construction began in February, the four-phase project begins in earnest with Phase 1 in mid-April. Eastbound traffic will be closed for the remainder of the project. Excavation during Phase 1 goes from the Main Street bridge to the 6th Street intersection, and from 7th Street to 8th Street.
“It’s important to continue to support downtown – small businesses are counting on the community’s help,” Neigh said. “People can always stop by the City and see what we’re doing here. It’s a very positive thing for our downtown – I have a lot of support from our business owners and I really appreciate them. I hope they feel comfortable in knowing that we’re listening to them and doing the best we can to have this affect them the least amount possible.”
Seeing the big picture
When Bashi “Coe” Ale opened the Quarter Drop Arcade on Main Street two months ago, he knew the city was planning on doing a nearly year-long revitalization project that threatened to take away some of his business.
He chose to look at the big picture.
“We certainly have a massive project going on,” Ale said. “I think long-term this will be really good for the city because it serves a need. There’s a big bow in the street, the sidewalks are all cracked up, the tree wells are too small so they’re cracking the sidewalks so I like what they’re doing.
“I feel for some of these businesses that have higher overheads than I do, but this impacts every business on Main Street.
“The most important thing we can do is get the word out that all businesses are open and for everyone to come out and support these businesses because we can all weather the storm and I imagine that long-term it’s going to look better than ever.”
The project hasn’t had too much of an effect on the arcade’s business, Ale said.
“Business has been wonderful since we opened up,” he said. “I have seen a bit of a slowdown on the weekdays, but that’s understandable. I think at first people weren’t even aware that Main Street was still open.”
Viktor Bartlog, new owner of the Design game store, is already a fan of the project – after owning his store for only two weeks.
“I can’t say how much the project has affected business, having just started,” Bartlog said. “But there’s a theory that it saved our basement from flooding because there’s a massive hole in the street. The Armory’s basement flooded but ours is completely dry. We don’t own the basement, but there’s a basement to the building and there’s a theory that all the water drained through that big hole. So it might have saved our basement. I’m not a basement expert. But maybe.
Bartlog is planning a grand reopening on Friday, March 28 during Art Walk. He’s adding art supplies to the store – the one big change he’s making to his stock.
“Because the Crafty Mercantile closed, I think people have been looking for a place to buy art supplies,” Bartlog said.
“I like the idea of the project. I hope it turns out well. Personally, I’m excited about the wider sidewalks. I think it’s going to be cool. My mom, Erika Peterson, owns the cafe down the street.”
Improvements needed
Urban Moore is part-owner of Slabtown Coffee along with Peterson.
“We’re looking forward to having the sidewalks done so we can put more tables out front,” Moore said. “It’s a small place but we fill it up once in a while. It would be nice to have the extra room outside.
“The road crew guys come in here sometimes, they’re very friendly, cooperative. They give us a heads-up when we need a heads-up. Like the middle of april we expect to close for two days while they work on our sidewalk.”
Years ago, Gail Hoelzle had just finished buying some items from a vendor. The man came inside for a few minutes and then left – without saying a word about how his truck had just accidentally ripped the bark off the side of the tree out front.
“I called Sperry Tree Care, and the City called and said we needed to cut the tree down,” said Hoelzle, who next month will celebrate her 50th anniversary as owner of The Bookmine. “He put the bark back on the tree and basically Band-aided it back onto the tree, and put this tree seal on it – rescue remedy for tree roots – and he said, ‘I think we can save the tree.’ Well, not only did he save our tree, because we water our plants, our tree well was getting way more water than the other trees downtown, it was growing twice as fast. So we had a beautiful tree out there, and we hung a bird-feeder from it. And our tree did really, really, really well.
“Root systems start breaking up, cracking sidewalks, sometimes getting into electrical systems – but our tree was a healthy, happy survivor – so I will miss our tree, but I’m looking forward to the project. I guess they’re planting new trees.”
Hoelzle said every day has been different during the revitalization project.
“It depends on the day – it was a little bit odd for the week you couldn’t park out here because customers had to park somewhere else,” she said. “It’s been a little awkward, but it’s all right.
“There’s the days when it’s noisy and people are going a little crazy, but mostly, people have been great.”
Tim Schweitzer has been around the block a time or two, as they say, and he has seen the many flaws in those blocks.
Delays, timing create concerns
So as a concerned citizen who has owned his family business, Schweitzer’s Work & Western Wear, for 53 years, he has invested plenty of time and energy into finding sensible solutions for Main Street’s issues.
“This was supposed to have been done way prior to 2015,” Schweitzer said. “The crowns of the roads affect everybody’s doors hitting the sidewalks, and there’s been a problem with the way water travels. Prior to 2015, four other studies had been done – and now a fifth study was done, so they sat on the shelf at the City. …
“My brother’s a civil engineer and he’s gone to all those meetings with me. Common sense and critical rational thought processes, we did a full video presentation – we invited down the city manager, planning commission, city council – all with a formal letter – and the mayor. They never came down here. I asked them after the demonstration, ‘Where were you guys?’”
They said they had “other things to do.”
“Oh, you had other things that were more of a priority than taking care of your business district that pays for your tax base and your infrastructure?”
While Schweitzer recognizes the need for the revitalization project, he’s less than thrilled about the timing of it all. Especially since it’s supposed to end just before Christmas.
“During summer I can’t have the Car Cruise, and can’t have the Show-n-Shine. Summer is one of my busiest months but Christmastime is my busiest month. I have to keep one of my two front doors open because I’m in Phase 4 – which is right in front of my building. I can’t have people coming in the back alleyway. They’re supposed to finish up right next to Christmas. Will they get it done? You know how construction delays are.”
