There’s going to be a big party when construction wraps up on the 300 block of Main Street in Penticton.
Lynn Allin, executive director of Downtown Penticton said since February when the project started a lot of work has been done.
“We have been working on the surface and underneath the surface of our roads. We are replacing our water system, we’ve replaced our curbs, our new asphalt, new trees put in. We have the beautification, which is actually brought to you by the Downtown Penticton property owners with the widened sidewalks and the block work. It’s going to be beautiful down here,” she said Friday.
“So we’re just about coming to the end and we’re going to be done on or before the expected date, which is Friday June 15, so keep that date in because we are having a big celebration that night, a grand opening of the 300 block will be that evening from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. that night and we will celebrate what we got going on here.”
The evening will include some food, music, activities for the kids and of course some wine, Allin said.
Although the project has been going on for more than three months with dust and dirt and road closures on and off, business owners are taking it all in stride.
Related: City staff recommend debt to finish downtown revitalization
Barb Winstanley, owner of Poppin’s Quilt Parlour told the Western News she hasn’t seen an impact on sales because customers are able to use the back door and she’s even going to miss the crew from Grizzly Excavating.
“We’ve discovered that they are entertaining, and very funny to watch. We’ve given them names based on their hat colours. We’ve also fed them on two different occasions,” she said.
She said during the entire construction process there was only a day-and-a-half that customers were not able to use the sidewalk in front of her store and that was because it was being poured.
On two different occasions, Poppin’s has given the crew about five dozen cookies - once just because and once after hearing the crew from Vernon that poured the curbs had a rough day.
“Once just because they’ve been yelled at enough. We’ve heard they get yelled at during the day and that’s no fun,” she said.
Poppin’s even put a Grizzly mascot stuffed animal in their front window and gave a quilt to one of the project manager’s after he and his wife had a baby.
“They’re polite and helpful. They help customers across if they need help. They’ve been great. They’re great we’re going to miss them,” she said.