Though the construction at the intersection of Magnolia Avenue and College Street will bring welcome changes to the historic location, the process involves the obstruction of several key parking spaces in front of adjacent businesses, preventing customers from driving directly to the business.
According to the City of Auburn’s website, the construction should be completed by Aug. 16.It also said the intersection will be raised to match the elevation of the sidewalks for downtown events.
In addition to providing information on the construction, the website also briefly encourages people to attend the restaurants and businesses during the summer.
Updates on the construction can be followed on Twitter using the hashtag #CornerConstruction.
What used to be parking spaces in front of businesses such as Toomer’s Drugs, The Bank Vault and the University Barber Shop is now part of the construction.
Potential customers are able to park farther down Magnolia Avenue and College Street and go to the businesses on foot.
Eric Stamp, manager of the custom design works and Tshirt store, Stamp, and president of the Downtown Merchants Association, said the municipal parking deck is available for customers’ use during the summer.
“A lot of (Stamp customers) just come and stay anywhere,” Stamp said, “A lot of those people just walk from wherever they have parked. The city’s opened up a lot of new parking. The parking deck – all three floors are available all summer long, for free. There’s additional parking on South College on the street by Samford tower.”
Mark McClurg, manager of the Little Italy Pizzeria said the construction has only affected business a small amount, and it will be worth it.
“We’ve had just a little bit of a difference in our normal business, obviously, since construction started,” McClurg said. “It hasn’t affected us as bad as I thought it would. We still got enough locals that still walk over here everyday and help support us. A lot of our traffic is walk-in traffic. I think it’s going to be great once they finish it up. Yeah, it’s a pain in the butt for everybody right now but it’s going to look great.”
A visit to the site shows the entire intersection has been scraped clean of its asphalt and dug into by excavators.
Sarah Griffin is a sales associate for Wrapsody, a local gift shop in downtown Auburn said they were surprised by the amount of business they have had, and that it is a welcome surprise.
“We’re pleasantly surprised by the business we’ve had in spite of the construction,” Griffin said.
In light of the construction, there is an effort to aid the local businesses in downtown Auburn.
A small movement of supporters spawned on Reddit. com.
The top post relating to the movement said, “So downtown Auburn is basically dead this summer. I think we should help the small businesses stay in business.”
The movement asks for people to attend the businesses in groups once or twice per week to help the businesses financially.
According to the Reddit.com, the movement’s leader will meet anyone interested in aiding the local businesses in downtown Auburn at The Bean, a local coffee shop Friday, May 29, between 3-5 p.m. on 139 S. Gay St.
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