Many business owners and managers on East Jackson Ave. are in favor of the East Jackson Ave. streetscape project –– a construction project to make the eastern side of the Square more pedestrian friendly. The project was first approved by the Board of Aldermen on Jan. 25, and the city has not yet released a timeline for construction.
The project will widen the sidewalks on East Jackson Ave. — reducing parking spaces and building permanent outdoor dining — and remove more than half of the 45 parking spots.
Lee Harris, owner of Funky’s Pizza and Daiquiri Bar, said he loves the idea of the streetscape project, and he thinks it will give him approximately the same amount of outdoor dining space that he had before next door construction forced him to cut back. He estimates that he will have between eight and 10 tables outside once the project is finished.
Harris also said that reduced parking spaces will not be a problem for him or his employees. “I don’t let my boys park there anyway,” Harris said. “That’s why we built the parking garage.”
The city finished constructing the parking garage on Jefferson and Monroe Avenues in fall 2019 after several delays, adding just under 400 parking spaces to the Square. This was a part of the city’s 2011 commitment to “provide more public parking in the downtown area.”
Much like Harris, Chris Stephenson, the owner of Oxford Burger Company, said that he and his employees also park in the garage and other free public parking lots that are close to the Square.
Stephenson said he is in full favor of the project, and he reached out to the alderman in his district prior to the approval to show his support. Stephenson believes that making the street more pedestrian friendly is a great idea and will be very helpful.
“Right now, the sidewalk is extremely narrow, and if you’re a pedestrian, it’s probably not that pleasant to walk up and down this section of Jackson Avenue,” Stephenson said.
Brittany Case, who has worked at Boure, Lenora’s and The Library Sports Bar, is now the manager of Hotworx, another of the businesses that will be affected by the streetscape project. While she thinks having extra space outside for restaurants will make the overall atmosphere of the Square more friendly, Case said it might be an obstacle for members of Hotworx.
“Most of our members park on Jackson because there’s no free parking really anywhere (close), and then any lot is a far distance to walk with their mat and towel,” Case said. “So, it might be a little bit more difficult for our members, but for the overall Square, service-industry wise, I think it’d be great for them.”
Harris said that when thinking from a tourism standpoint, the end product is going to bring a lot of life to East Jackson Ave.
“It will make the Square pop a little better and definitely give people that don’t have patios a chance for people that want to come sit outside, enjoy Oxford and see people walking by and everything else that Oxford has to offer,” Harris said.
