The wait is finally over.
The intersection of College Street and Magnolia Avenue, known as Toomer's Corner, opened up to traffic at noon, Saturday, Aug. 15.
Come Home to the Corner will mark the re-opening and mark the end of a long, hard summer for downtown merchants, according to Ann Bergman, public relations specialist for the city of Auburn parks and recreation department. Auburn clergy bestowed a blessing upon the corner Monday, Aug. 17.
Bergman said many of the stores downtown will stay open later for the event. She said there will be live acoustic music provided by Joseph Young. The main attraction will be a poker run, where people collect playing cards from participating downtown businesses to try to have the best poker hand. People will bring their best hand forward at 8:15, and there will be multiple winners, according to Bergman. Cost to play is $5 per hand.
Bergman said downtown will be an entertainment district for the night, meaning open containers will be allowed. She said she hopes people purchase beverages while they browse the downtown shops and participate in the poker run.
Eric Stamp, owner of the T-shirt store Stamp, will keep his business open for the poker run. He said he is excited to show off the new downtown area and expects a good turnout.
"It's a good weekend for something," Stamp said. "The students being back, the corner just being open for a week, there's a lot of interest in coming down here and doing something social. Everybody enjoys an entertainment district event, to walk around with your cocktail.
Stamp said the poker run is designed so people will go into a variety of businesses, and the idea was a collaborative effort.
"We had considered doing a scavenger hunt or some other event to keep people moving around from end to end downtown," Stamp said. "We have eight to 10 businesses participating for you to pick up cards, and they are at all ends of the downtown, so people should be going to the furthest reaches."
Stamp said summer was difficult for his business, as the construction prevented people from parking and visiting downtown.
"It was devastating," Stamp said. "I'm sure our retail part of our sales was off 70-80 percent. Fortunately for us, we do custom printing out of the back of our shop and we had one of the best summers ever for that sort of thing."
Stamp said the new downtown will help his business rebound from the losses it suffered over the summer. He said the event will help kickstart the sales. He said there will be a sidewalk sale, as well as games and giveaways at his location.
Do you like this story? The Plainsman doesn't accept money from tuition or student fees, and we don't charge a subscription fee. But you can donate to support The Plainsman.
