SUMMER OF DISCONTENT ALMOST OVER IN G'WOOD
Monday, August 21st, 2006 -- 2:28 PM
Downtown Greenwood business owners can see the light at the end of the tunnel as a once-in-a-lifetime construction project is nearing completion.HWY 73 ? which is Greenwood?s main street ? has been impassable all summer as the city and DOT perform a huge reconstruction project.
?They replaced the water and sewer, curb and gutter, basically all the street signs, basically all the storm sewer, we're also putting in all new streetlights,? explains Greenwood Public Works Director Jeff Hoeper.
The project has gone according to schedule. That schedule calls for the paving ? which is the icing on the cake, so to speak ? to begin in a couple weeks.
?They?re pretty close to near completion,? Hoeper says. ?All the water and sewer is put in, (sidewalks) are done? not much is left.?
That?s welcome news to Pat Lindner.
Not only is she the Greenwood Chamber of Commerce President, she?s also celebrating 20 years in business at Friends Flowers and Gifts, which is on the main drag.
?We managed. It?s been a real challenging summer,? Lindner says. ?It was hard on walk-in traffic ? like, they didn?t come.?
She says other businesses struggled as well, but most she talk to are accepting that the project needed to be done.
?We were kind of expecting it. Other towns have gone through it and they say ?it's going to be terrible, and it is,? Lindner laughs. ?But, you?re not going to be going through this again for a number of years.?
Now the city is gearing up to celebrate the project?s completion. Lindner says a street dance is being planned for September 9th. Organizers hope it will be a chance to unwind after a very difficult summer for Greenwood residents, and a shot-in-the-arm for some businesses that really need it.
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