Dubuque Street businesses prepare for months-long reconstruction

A portion of Dubuque Street between cross streets Iowa Avenue and Washington Street is slated for construction next month, and the impending disruption is a concern for adjacent store owners. Beginning March 11, the Dubuque Street Reconstruction project will upgrade deteriorating public infrastructure, including century-old water mains and clay sewer pipes, 1980s roads and storm sewers, and obsolete street lighting systems. New streetscape features will be added as well.

The project will encompass 6-7 months, and while the end result will be a major upgrade, it’s a long time for businesses to be disrupted. “I'm staying pretty positive about it, because I'm very excited for the outcome – what it's going to look like afterwards,” said 223 Baby Co.’s owner, Macy Krall. Still, unknown factors hang in the air. “I know there is going to probably be a major decrease in our revenue for the summer, just due to being a baby store and parents not wanting to probably bring their kids through construction zones (with) their strollers,” she said.

Preparing for the unknown

For Jan Weissmiller, owner of Prairie Lights Bookstore, the main concern is the noise and irritation of the construction. “People want quiet, where they can browse books,” she said, and is worried about losing sales. Exploring her options, Ms. Weissmiller is considering a number of remedies to keep sales flowing, such as discounted gift certificates or a “gift certificate in July” campaign, and advertising free delivery options in Prairie Lights’ newsletter.

A reduction in foot traffic could mean adjusting store hours as well, and Ms. Weissmiller said she may consider extending store hours into the late evening, when construction stalls for the night. “I won’t know until (construction) starts, what the impact will be,” she said. “We appreciate all the support we can get.” Deadwood Tavern and Nodo Iowa City say they’re depending on regulars to continue frequenting their establishments. “I hope we have enough of a strong base that (customers will) still come and still want to eat here. It'll just be really crowded inside – we won't have an extra five or six tables outside,” said Nodo owner, Josh Silver, on losing summer patio seating. “We’re trying to be creative,” said Deadwood Tavern manager Carlos Amaya, on easing building access for customers, and says the tavern is figuring out ways to implement the back entrance/alley, maybe creating a speakeasy-type environment.

Mr. Silver, who has owned Nodo for 10 ½ years and weathered the pandemic, said the restaurant will be adding new signs and lights to attract attention. “Nothing out of the ordinary,” he said, but added that he and his business partner, Bryan Asklof, may use their other business, The Dublin Underground, as a symbiotic extension of NoDo. Customers can order from Nodo’s menu and have it delivered down the backstairs to Dublin Underground, which is beneath the restaurant. “We thought about doing an after-hours menu that you can only get at the Dublin,” said Mr. Silver. Mr. Amaya looks forward to the possibility of gaining new customers from the reconstruction process.

“Hopefully the construction workers come in and have a drink when they’re done working,” he said.

ICDD promotes affected businesses

Construction will occur in stages rather than all at once, and front entrances to shops will be accessible prior to sidewalk construction. Because sidewalks will be closed to restaurants that normally utilize them for summer patio season, the city has agreed to waive sidewalk fees for the summer. A typical sidewalk cafe fee is $5 a square foot per year, and $10 a square foot per year if it’s located on a planter or structure, according to the city’s website, and an additional $45 per year if a planter sidewalk cafe is using electrical outlets for lights. Cafes utilizing parking spaces are an additional $20 per day. Depending on other factors, sidewalk cafes can cost upwards of $500-$1,000 per year, and waiving fees for the summer will help lessen cost strain on businesses. The real MVP during reconstruction is the Iowa City Downtown District (ICDD), which has aggressively spearheaded initiatives to lessen the blow of disruption. Betsy Potter, executive director of ICDD, said navigating major construction projects during peak activity season is not something new for the organization.

“This is our third event season with major streetscape (projects),” she said. “We've gone through this before, we understand what this means for everybody.” ICDD’s heavy marketing campaign on behalf of the Dubuque Street businesses includes paid advertising with local media partners, such as Little Village Mag and radio station KZIA, to keep the businesses at the forefront of people’s minds. “Everyone assumes that the businesses are still open. But let's remind them that it's not super inconvenient. It is actually going to be a better streetscape when it's all said and done. You can still find parking, you can still access everything that you need to access,” said Ms. Potter. Public art fencing and signage will also be incorporated into the marketing campaign, as well as Hello, Lamp Post. Hello, Lamp Post is a communication platform that uses A.I. technology to connect neighborhoods with their community. Users scan a QR code located on “Hello Downtown Iowa City” signs and receive a two-way conversation via text, receiving real-time answers to shopping questions as well as information on events or situations occurring in the community. “We're using a lamppost as an engagement piece, so people will be able to scan the QR code and have a conversation about the fence, about the construction,” she said. “It's just a way to educate the public on what's happening there.” In addition, free delivery services are offered three days a week through the ICDD, with no required minimum amount for shipping. “We deliver to Coralville, North Liberty, Iowa City, Tiffin and West Branch,” said Ms. Potter, and businesses enter their requests by 10 a.m. the day of delivery. “We pop (the orders) into a spreadsheet, we pull them into an app, and that delivery driver walks around, picks up all the packages and then delivers them in the car…sometimes we have 30 (orders), sometimes we have three,” she said.

Pop-up shops in former White Rabbit

The former White Rabbit space, at 112 S. Linn St., will occasionally act as a temporary home for the affected retail businesses along Dubuque Street, and the ICDD is leasing the space for pop-up shops. “It's a good retail space. It housed multiple different retailers over the years,” said Ms. Potter. “Myself and the Shop Iowa City will be doing a vintage Hawkeye pop-up shop the week the students come back in August,” said Ms. Krall, on using 112 S. Linn St. “Christopher (Hunter, director of marketing) at the Downtown District is running that schedule, so we can always message him if we're having a rough month. He will have the schedule and see what he can do for us.” Leasing the space is part of a broader retail attraction strategy for ICDD, which is seeking a retailer to eventually take over the storefront semi-permanently. “We're going to be using that space probably over the next eight months, to do pop-up events to allow others to use it,” said Ms. Potter. “The big motivation right now is to preserve that space for a good retailer, because we know we need another good performing retailer to support the other good performing retailers (next door).” Essentially, it will be an opportunity to support area businesses while doing an unofficial “audition” for businesses that will be the best fit for the location. For now, the Dubuque Street businesses urge customers to continue patronizing their location despite the construction. “Just keep visiting,” said Mr. Silver. “Don't be scared of some fences and construction vehicles. It'll be beautiful and even nicer when it's done, so just bear with us.”