MyDowntownMall.com

The City of Charlottesville has launched a website related to the upcoming overhaul of the pedestrian Downtown Mall.

A lot of the information on the site is still marked "coming soon..."  However, earlier this week they released a Business Impact Survey report.

"As part of the process of updating and renovating the Downtown Pedestrian Mall, the City is seeking input from an array of stakeholders including residents, visitors and business owners. The latter group is of vital importance to the City as the restaurants, retail stores and entertainment venues are the driving force behind the mall’s success. Most agree that the update is necessary and everyone is aware that the process of construction may be disruptive and possibly devastating to businesses if not managed properly."

Here are some sample comments in the Business Impact Survey from restaurants contemplating the mall reconstruction expected to start no sooner than January 2009.

• “Everything and everyone comes through the front door: people, deliveries and trash. If the mall is disrupted in front of us, we will close.”
• “Any disruption or closure of the patios will hurt us. Also, any loss of electric or gas for any amount of time.”
• “The loss of the patio in the spring or summer will kill our business.”

Art galleries had the following "representative comments":

• "If they disrupt 5th Street, we are screwed."
• “We need to have a strong public relations campaign to combat negative media attention.”

As public meetings hit the calendar on this project, Charlottesville Tomorrow will make sure you are informed of the opportunities to participate.

Brian Wheeler

Comments

[Larry]

Brian -- Thanks for pointing this out. FYI: I can't seem to access the PDF of the survey-report from your site or the city's report section.

[cvilletom]

Larry - You are very welcome. The link works for me in both places. Here it is spelled out:

http://www.cvilletomorrow.org/docs/20080115MallBusinessImpactReport.pdf

Brian Wheeler