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Brockit Inc.
Downtown Houghton
Bricks bring a new feeling to the streetscape of downtown Houghton...
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Courtesy MDOT
Downtown Houghton
... compared to the street before the reconstruction.
ROAD CONSTRUCTION AHEAD!
For most of us, this phrase speaks of inconvenience, delays and perhaps a few muttered expletives in slow traffic. For store owners, road repairs in front of their buildings quite literally might mean a business death sentence, disrupting customer flows and supply deliveries and making their store a place to avoid.
Unless, that is, you are a business owner in downtown Houghton, Michigan. Pulling off something of an entrepreneurial miracle, the businesses, city offices, state DOT, construction companies and residents managed to make a party – a profitable party – out of what might have been a miserable economic situation when U.S. Highway 41, running on the downtown’s two main streets, was reconstructed in 2009.
“What we did with that project, the whole downtown, we took lemons and made lemonade,” says Susie Landers, former owner of Good Time Music and now the city’s downtown business coordinator.
At first, though, business owners mainly saw yellow lemons and potentially red economic losses.
When word went out about a major resurfacing project, recalls Robert Megowen, owner of the Douglass House Bar & Restaurant, “It was a panic by the downtown businesses (with owners saying), ‘This was it, we’ve had two bad summers in a row. … You might as well lock up our businesses.’”
They felt that way because the Michigan Department of Transportation planned to resurface U.S. 41 – Houghton’s one-way downtown main streets of northbound Shelden Avenue and southbound Montezuma Avenue.
“Everyone expected the worst,” says Scott MacInnes, the city manager at the time. “But now that it’s complete, it’s been the best thing to happen to our downtown in the history of the downtown.”
How is that possible? It starts with attitude, connects with communication and ends with implementation, Houghton leaders say.
Attitude change came first, says Susie. “We didn’t allow that panic. Communication was key, that helped to keep the panic down, it helped to keep the rumors down.”
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Courtesy City of Houghton
Downtown Houghton
With such massive construction under way, telling Houghton residents how to best access downtown buildings became a critical component in keeping businesses alive during the project, MDOT reports.
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Courtesy MDOT
Downtown Houghton
The Downtown Houghton Merchants’ Association earned a “Making a Difference Gold Award for Breaking the Mold” from the National Partnerships for Highway Quality for the project.
City and business leaders pondered how to take advantage of the work. The resulting request surprised MDOT officials, who brace for negative reaction when road closings must occur. Houghton wanted more construction.
The city requested “a $4.6 million end-to-end and storefront-to-storefront reconstruction. The ratio of funding, with the city putting up more than two-thirds of the money, was atypical for a state trunkline project,” MDOT reported.
The city cobbled together state and federal grants, the state’s Vibrant Small Cities Initiative and a Rural Development loan. The money covered resurfacing with bricks and repair or replacement of all major underground utilities – sewer, water, electricity – plus installation of old-style streetlights and decorative sidewalks.
Business owners and city leaders, meanwhile, planned a strategy to keep stores and restaurants busy, coming up with ways to draw people during construction.
“They really wanted to revitalize their downtown,” says Andy Sikkema, manager of MDOT’s transportation service center in Ishpeming. “We took everything out. When you do that, that’s pretty disruptive to downtown.”
But the attitude became, Andy says, “Let’s enjoy our construction project and not just survive our construction project.”
Working with MDOT, the local group requested construction be limited to two blocks a time, reducing travel disruptions. The city budgeted for advertising to support downtown businesses and city-center events. It hired someone to coordinate events and to act as a go-to liaison to handle questions and concerns.
“Conceptualization to construction took a little over a year,” Andy says. “The city became a really great partner in this.”
“I think a lot of time and thought went into this thing before we started the project and how we were going to keep the downtown business going,” Scott adds. “Most cities just want to do the project as fast as they can and hope for the best. We wanted to keep the merchants going and keep them happy and to really put a spark in the downtown.”
Once construction got under way in spring, things went … better than hoped.
The construction company – Bacco – agreed to contain activity to two blocks. This meant the city could advertise alternative routes, entrances and parking for business patrons. Each time construction moved two blocks, there was a street party to bring people down for a look.
“We always made sure there was a good, clear communication to the community,” Susie says. “We always kept them informed: ‘Just finished the 300 block; you know what that means, we’re going to have a party! We’re going to have music!’ It brought people here rather than keeping them away.”
There was a rock music camp at the site of the downtown music store, a place for young bicyclists to practice tricks on a mountain of sand slotted for the construction, concerts and a host of events throughout the summer. “The attendance was huge,” Susie says. “There’s something about being in the street.”
No businesses closed and some increased profits for the summer.
Courtesy MDOT
Downtown Houghton
Participation in the multiple events during the construction exceeded everyone’s expectations. Some events, such as the Art and Music Festival in June, continue to be offered downtown.
Besides business owners, another important population affected were residents – senior citizens to hipster university students who live downtown. Houghton has worked to increase desirable housing near the waterfront. Scott estimates up to 800 people live downtown, many in newly renovated second stories of storefront buildings. Younger people appreciate access to waterfront trails for biking.
Downtown senior citizens found the construction workers became good temporary neighbors, and everyone ended up at the coffee shop for a morning cup of joe.
“We all became a big family,” Robert says. It was not unusual to see a construction worker take time to help an elderly lady navigate across the street. “Construction people, the guys in the pits, would talk to the residents and the senior citizens. They came and had coffee with them. That was the magic, it counts a lot.”
That might be why, at the end of the construction in late fall that year, the downtown neighborhood hosted yet one more street party. “The downtown merchants threw a party with a band and food and beer for the contractors and the engineers on this job.”
Something like that never happens, Andy says. “It went so well, as well as could be, the business owners wanted to show some appreciation.”
MDOT now holds up the Houghton project as a model and the project also has gotten state and national awards, Scott says.
While the bulldozers have rolled away, the community continues to reap benefits. Downtown business owners still meet and plan activities. “We meet monthly, our business association is stronger than ever,” Susie says.
“They’re doing more events than I ever dreamed they’d do,” Scott adds.
Bacco construction workers, in town for other projects, continue to drop by the coffee shop to catch up with the downtown senior residents.
And, of course, there is the original point of the project. “Our street,” says Susie, “is beautiful.”