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Show yIPPPWfc 111; SSli' :,-,r,'":::l 1 " " 1 1 1 II1" ;:.;! m-i: 1 Avwm'uj.-wiwwwii.! ' 4 4 ; & ! '.IS"" 4 ' ' ' r- r I '0 ' I V ! v ; ' - i I A ? i i ' V - I kwrr.. ' " BRUCE BARTON "Optimism makes difference, " DIANE BARTSCHI "Good in the long run." ADAM GHOMY "Parking makes no seme. " LOIS PICKETT "Only time will tell. " A. MAHER "Work going too slowly." ft Merchants air views on Main Street project By VICKI CROCCO Bountiful's Main Street business owners are trying to conduct business busi-ness as usual during the construction, construc-tion, but they are feeling the crunch of lost business. Lois Pickett of Servus Drug said, "I know the curb and gutter work had to be done regardless. It's the end result that counts, and only time will tell." "What I object to is the planter boxes. How much of that space could be used for parking. Convenience Con-venience and accessibility are key issues. I really thought a mayor who quotes Shakespeare would be inspired to create something really" different. I can see the entire Main Street as a mall," said Pickett. The Main Street Merchants are dealing with the street construction all day, everyday with greater or lesser degrees of success. Most are suffering drops in business, but are anticipating future rewards for this setback. Some don't see the rewards re-wards as realistic. Adam Ghomy of Classy Chassis recall ever seeing all the stalls on the street filled in the past. I think this may encourage pedestrian traffic. traf-fic. I don't think it will be a problem in the winter either," said Barton. Lakewood's A. Maher said it's taking too long to finish. "It's a problem. It's really going slowly. They need to double or triple the work shifts to get it done by August," Au-gust," said Maher. "We hope it will increase business busi-ness when they're through. But, for now they need a sign on 5th South to show people how to get to downtown Bountiful," said Maher. Dianne Bartschi of Carr's Stationery Sta-tionery thinks it's not all that bad. "You need to be willing to go through the problems to make it better. The sidewalks were cracked crack-ed and the street awful. Now it will be modern, and attractive. I appreciate appre-ciate it. I hope others don't lose business, but in the long run I think we'll get a better business base. So far we've survived because of our back entrances. It's really not so bad," said Bartschi. With months of work remaining before the project is finished, these and the rest of the downtown Bountiful merchants have a hot, dusty summer ahead, challenged with the problems of how to gdt customers to brave the dirt, confusing con-fusing back roads, and construction construc-tion crews to get through their doors. said, "It's horrible. It's killing us. Sales are way down. We're seeing lots of losses. The customers are upset. They don't know where the stores are from the back roads. We need signs on each street showing where all the shops are. The customers cus-tomers are great to go through all of this just to get to us, and we really appreciate it. But, we are touch and go right now," said Ghomy. "I have very mixed feelings about ab-out this. They did the same thing in Salt Lake City and it killed downtown. down-town. There's no place to park. I'm glad they're doing it... I think it will be pretty, but they destroyed all of our parking. We're going from 30 spaces to eight, I think. It makes no sense," said Ghomy. Bruce Barton of Barton Shoes has had very little change in his business, which he attributes to the parking behind his store, and the continued common practice of using us-ing the bck door. "We have a lot of dedicated customers cus-tomers here. We keep running promotions to help encourage people peo-ple to come down. I think optimism makes the biggest difference. It certainly can't hurt," said Barton. "I hear so many negative comments com-ments from other merchants, especially espe-cially about parking, but I don't |
