Mall overhaul begins: Some business owners express anxiety over blocked doorways, potential delays

The Christmas tree from Central Place has been hauled away and construction equipment has taken its place on Charlottesville’s Downtown Mall.

The four-month, $7.5 million restoration that the city says will lead to unbroken bricks, more benches and fully functional fountains has started without a hitch, with workers saying Monday morning that they were “making pretty good progress right now.”

The first tearing up of the bricks — just across the pedestrian path from the already-under way Landmark Hotel — began Sunday and will continue for six days a week until May.

“Sundays are a good day to be working since there’s not so many people here,” said Chris Weatherford, project manager with Barton Malow Co. Work will not be done on Saturdays after requests from local businesses.

Business owners around Central Place expressed both coolness and trepidation about the project as it began. This week, construction barriers, bulldozers and workers in hardhats and neon yellow vests will slowly take over four different spots on the mall, including Central Place, so that a third will be revamped at any given time.

Matthew Simon, the box office and programming manager for the Paramount Theater, applauded the city for letting businesses know when their section of the mall will be under construction. This, he said, has helped ease the tension.

“There’s a little anxiety,” Simon said, adding, “Since we’ve got the history of Third Street.”

Simon was referring to last year’s Third Street rebricking that went on nearly six months longer than planned — the original design plans for the three-month project needed to be changed after pavement had been torn up.

But for now, Simon, like city officials, said he is confident that this restoration will not be a Third Street repeat.

On the other hand, Susan Russell, an employee of the Petit Pois restaurant, said she was not too thrilled when she arrived at work Monday morning to see the restaurant’s entrance practically inaccessible.

“When I got here this morning, I couldn’t even get in,” she said. “There’s a part of me that doesn’t know why we’re going to be open today.”

Russell said that as the mall restoration was being debated, her understanding was that as little work as possible would be done during businesses’ regular hours.

Crews will try to work on the noisiest part of the project — cutting the bricks — early in the morning before stores open their doors, city spokesman Ric Barrick said. But he noted that construction crews need to work at times convenient to their schedules.

Plus, he said, the city has to be mindful of other groups, such as residents, who would not want to hear bulldozers rumbling at all hours of the night.

“There’s more than just businesses that are stakeholders,” Barrick said. Weatherford said the mall’s construction crews will be working from roughly 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Emily Cox, who works for the Cha Cha’s boutique, said she does not personally agree with the project, but added, “I think it would’ve had to be done eventually.”

Cox said she thought spending $7.5 million during such a rough time was “extreme.” However, with the economy floundering and prices falling, officials have said that the mall project could come in 10 percent to 15 percent under budget.

“There’s no way to avoid it, really,” Cox said, referring to the infrastructure overhaul. “It might look really nice when they’re all done with it.”