Lowry Avenue reconstruction threatening small business
As it has done with its historic makeover of Lake Street, Hennepin County is making life difficult for small businesses on Lowry Avenue. But this time, some of those businesspeople are accusing the county of trying to put them out of business.
As G.R. Anderson reports in City Pages, the massive reconstruction project has provided few options for patrons of Lowry Avenue establishments. As tough as the reconstruction has been on Lake Street businesses, the county at least left half of that thoroughfare open while tearing up the other half. On Lowry, the entire street has been eviscerated.
“It’s the saddest, most devastating scene you could come across,” said Tait Danielson Castillo, executive director of the Hawthorne Area Community Council. Many of these businesses will be shuttered by the end of the month, he said.
Dan Michalko, a senior engineer working on the project, argued that leaving half the street open during the reconstruction would extend the time it would take to complete the work by another season or more. Hennepin County Commissioner Mark Stenglein, who represents the area, said the county was making its “best efforts” to deal with the concerns of local businesses, but added, “It’s a massive redevelopment project.”
And one that may have ulterior motives, According to the county’s report, the project presents an “opportunity” for “removal of ‘seedy’ retail.”
Without much in the way of recourse for the Lowry businesses, it looks as if the county’s plan could come to fruition fairly soon.
