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This is wrong time for roadblock
(by Barbara Christian - March 04, 2009)
WINDOW ON MAIN STREET, BY BARBARA CHRISTIAN
This is wrong time for roadblock
When it rains, it pours, the saying goes, so just a note to Chagrin Falls merchants, residents and visitors. We are about to get dumped on.
Here we are wrestling with an economy that is bordering on disaster for everyone, including the small shop owners. And now we hear that Chagrin Boulevard, from Chagrin River Road to the Chagrin Falls welcome sign, will be closed for three months beginning in April.
That's the major entrance to Chagrin Falls. While you and I know the various ways around the roadblock into town, what we worry about is the visitors who may just turn around and go shop and have a meal elsewhere.
The closing of Chagrin Boulevard could not have come at a worse time. The Chautauqua in Chagrin events, Herb and Flower Festival, Blossom Time and Art by the Falls all take place during the three-month construction period.
So what's a town that depends on visitors to do? Nancy Haag, director of Downtown Chagrin Falls, tells us that key people are meeting Friday (March 6) to talk about the problem and come up with a plan to ease the impact of the road closing. She promised to let us in on the strategy as soon as there is one.
One option is that Chagrin Falls officials, merchants and their minion could throw themselves on the mercy of Moreland Hills and beg for the work to be postponed until the busy spring and summer season is over. But that's a long shot at best.
Let's change the subject to something more hopeful. Yes, these are scary times for the small-business person, so let's give a standing "O" for every downtown merchant and another for four new Chagrin Falls restaurant owners.
There's Michael Longo, owner of the recently opened Asian restaurant Umami on Main Street, Fresh Start Diner owners Bob Wyman and Ken Frankenbery, who took over the Dink's Main Street landmark and began serving eager eaters last month, and Joe Saccone, who will soon debut Jekyll's Cafe in the River Street building where his Blake's once held forth.
Just a note to Mr. Saccone: You might want to rethink the name of your new place. With a name like Jekyll's, the cocktails may be a hard sell.
Recognition also should be given to David Kaplan and his daughter Donna Murphy, owners of the Chagrin Falls Shopping Plaza, who always seem to be able to hang onto their tenants in hard times.
Crossed fingers go out to Linda Harris White, whose Harris family realty company owns two big empty stores in downtown Chagrin Falls. Let's hope the former Cottonwood and Gorant's Cards and Candy stores come alive again soon with some new roadblock-proof destination businesses.
Meanwhile, let's hold our collective breath and hope the downtown merchant population stays put until happy days are here again.
In the end, I suppose what Chagrin Falls is experiencing is what President Barack Obama means when he talks about Wall Street vs. Main Street. The Wall Street bandits made off with the cash register in the middle of the night, leaving Main Street looking for the pennies they may have left in the getaway. Guess that's what they mean by the "trickle-down theory."
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