(Editor’s Note: This story has been updated from an earlier version to include comments from the mayor’s office on the analysis of the library building.)
City officials reopened a two-block stretch of North Boulevard in downtown at noon today, after structural concerns about the nearby library branch under construction at the intersection of North Boulevard and St. Louis Street forced the closure of the area late Wednesday.
But noon was too late for the eateries that line the street. They remained closed throughout the mid-afternoon, and most chalked up the day as pretty much a total loss.
“When you own a small business you never want to go a single day without opening your doors,” says Ash Shoukry, whose Big Squeezy location on North Boulevard is one of five popular lunch spots that remained closed. “Whether you make $500 a day or $1,000 a day, it disrupts your cash flow, it disrupts your supply, it disrupts everything.”
Shoukry planned to try to reopen later today to capture some of the courthouse crowd on their way home. Pat Fellows, whose Somos Bandidos restaurant is adjacent to The Big Squeezy, decided not to bother.
“We found out they were going to reopen the street at noon, so I might’ve been able to get someone downtown to open for 1 p.m.,” says Fellows. “But by then it would’ve been too late. We would have missed most of the lunch crowd.”
Fellows estimates the restaurant, which also serves breakfast, lost about $1,000 today. He says it’s not worth filing a business interruption claim with the insurance company for such a relatively small loss.
“It’s a public safety too-bad-so-sad kinda thing,” he says.
Jolie Pearl Oyster Bar also lost out on what likely would have been a busy lunch crowd on a sunny spring day. Kitchen manager Jeffrey Cash says the restaurant is usually about 75% full at lunch. He was hoping to reopen at 4 p.m. but the foot traffic—never particularly heavy in downtown Baton Rouge in the evening—was particularly light in the area today, presumably because of awareness of the situation with the library.
“Since everyone knows this area is closed, it’s a gamble,” he says.
Business owners say they don’t necessarily blame city officials for taking the precaution, though some suggested it might be overkill. But some say they wish there had been more direct communication between the city, property owners and tenants.
“I was finding out about what was going on from the guys at Roly Poly next door, who were sending me links to news web sites,” says Shoukry, who was in California.
Late this afternoon, Mayor Sharon Weston Broome’s office issued a statement saying structural engineers have completed their analysis of the building and found two compromised steel connections on which repairs have already begun.
“We anticipate the repair measures, involving welding at the site of the compromised connections, will ensure the contractor will be able to go back to work on the project tomorrow once they are complete and approval is received from the structural engineer,” the statement says. “It will also ensure that the east bound lanes of North Boulevard can be reopened.
A full structural report is expected at the end of next week.
