Village of Lewiston

Retailers not at all happy with Art Festival plan

Business owners opposed to Center Street closure

by Joshua Maloni
Lewiston Porter Sentinel, June 20, 2009

As the Sentinel went to press one week ago, news circulated of a letter, penned by Center Street retailers, that stated objection to the Lewiston Council on the Arts’ plan to close the village’s main road during the Aug. 8-9 Art Festival.

“The closing of (Center Street) for the annual Art Festival, starting at 5 am Saturday August 8th and reopening at 9 pm Sunday evening will directly affect many of our plans to promote our businesses throughout that weekend,” the letter reads. “Many of us depend on the festivals to help keep us afloat during the tougher times, particularly the Art Festival, which for most, is one of our biggest weekends. We believe that by closing off access to the main road, placing the tents in the street, with the back of the tents facing the shops, this will potentially distract festival goers towards the center of the street and away from our store fronts. Also, the loss of the space between the curb and sidewalk will only further deter any usable space for us to participate as well.

“We are requesting that you reconsider the current decision to close off Center Street during this festival and keep the tents in their usual spot, between the sidewalks and the curb.” 

Two-dozen people signed the letter, though no one took credit for crafting it.

On Monday, LCA Executive Director Irene Rykaszewski penned a reply, and attended the Village Board meeting to explain her organization’s position.

“Obviously, we’re just a little over a month before the festival ... my feeling is it’s a little bit late to contact the vendors,” Rykaszewski said.

In her letter, she wrote, “The decision to close Center St. for the Lewiston Art Festival came after many years of considering feedback from artists, businesses and people who attend our Festival. We piloted closing a portion of Center St. in 2008 and the overwhelmingly positive response is clear in the attached comments I received when I surveyed the artists after last years’ festival. At that time, I was not aware of a single complaint (besides the bad weather) among those retailers and restaurateurs located where the street was closed and so we proceeded with plans to close more of Center St. The decision to close the street was made with all stakeholders present (Fire, Police, Village Board) including the business community represented by the Board President of the LNRR Chamber of Commerce.”

The Village Board, on Jan. 20, approved the LCA’s request to close off Center Street, from Fourth to Eighth streets, for the Art Festival. Trustees had previously closed portions of the road for the Garden Festival and the Jazz Festival.

In 2008, Center Street was closed from Fourth to Sixth streets during the Art Festival. The Chalk Walk competition took place in front of DiCamillo Bakery. In years past, it was located on South Fifth Street.

“This year, the Chalk Walk is a major success basically because we brought it to Center Street and made it the major focus of the Art Festival,” LCA board President Jerry Mosey said at the time.

All in all, Rykaszewski said the artists were happy, and the flow was good.

It was the artists’ comments that spurred the LCA’s desire to close even more of Center Street for this year’s event.

“I always felt like we have to make them happy,” Rykaszewski said recently, noting sales have traditionally been better for artists participating in other art festivals.

Moreover, she said people attending the Art Festival complained about the former setup, where artists lined the Center Street sidewalks.

“(Closing the street) is better, especially for people coming to the show,” Rykaszewski said. “Certainly, crowds are important.”

Village Mayor Richard Soluri, a short time ago, said the decision to close Center Street was “tough,” but “that was the public that kept asking us for that. This way, there’s a lot more room.”

As to the affect of the street’s closure on retailers, Soluri said, “We don’t know the effect. What we’re hoping is, the fact that there’s so many extra people coming, that it creates new business.” 

“I’m just asking everybody to give it a chance,” Rykaszewski said on Monday, adding that, “If it totally sucks, we can always go back.”

Despite Rykaszewski’s efforts, business owners are still upset over the matter and the way in which events unfolded.

The Sentinel attempted to contact more than one dozen Center Street retailers. Eleven stores responded, but on the condition of anonymity. Virtually all expressed fear of retribution - either from the LCA or from the village - for publicly speaking against the Art Festival plan.

Retailers voiced three main concerns to the Sentinel: a lack of access/visibility to stores and the position of the vendor tents on Center Street; a loss of income; and a perceived lack of communication from the LCA.

As to point No. 1, the retailers are as concerned about the position of the tents as they are about the closing of the road.

“I have an issue with the tents facing the street,” a retailer said.

The current Art Festival plan calls for vendor tents to face each other. Consequently, the back of the tents will face the storefronts.

“They’re going to line the streets and block the shops,” one businessperson said.

“I’d like to know how the retailers are supposed to get to work,” another asked.  

Rykaszewski, in her letter, wrote, “An alternative layout that has been suggested many many times by retailers, is to place the artists’ tents back-to-back down the middle of the street. There are some problems with this plan:

“•it would have our artist vendors enduring high temperatures on hot pavement for two days. We have many older artists as well as disabled artists whose comfort and safety is a concern. We would undoubtedly loose (sic) many artists if the show is physically uncomfortable to do.

“•There are safety considerations when pedestrians are crowded between the tent fronts and our granite curbs creating lots of opportunities for falls and injuries.

“•Finally, the preference of the Lewiston Fire Chief was to keep the middle of the street clear for emergency vehicles.”

While lining the tents in this manner may benefit the artists, the retailers firmly believe this will create a traffic flow leading away from their stores, thus resulting in a loss of income.

“They’re taking away from their retailers,” one businessperson said, adding the Art Festival has recently served as the biggest sales weekend of the year because the vendors were lined on the streets. Visitors had no choice but to walk right in front of each store.

When asked if there was any way business could improve with a closed Center Street, the answer was “no.”

“I will lose business that weekend,” one retailer said emphatically.

“These vendors come in, and they’re gone,” that person said. “They don’t stick around.”

“This is going to hurt us desperately,” another said. “I think it’s going to be a major affect to the retailers.”

“It’s a festival celebrated in Lewiston,” one businessperson said. “We’re in Lewiston. We’re the package; we’re it.

“We’re here 52 weeks of the year.”

With regard to communication, Rykaszewski said efforts were made to personally contact the retailers, informing each of the street plan.

Of the people contacted by the Sentinel, more than half said they were never contacted, or couldn’t remember if they were approached or not.

“They don’t really care what the retailers think,” one person said. “It just doesn’t make any sense.”

“They literally turned their backs on the retailers,” that businessperson continued. This retailer said that, if a genuine conversation was initiated concerning closing Center Street, “Everybody would’ve questioned that.”

This person recalled a large packet coming from the LCA. A letter within the packet did, in fact, address the street closing. However, this person said lots of mail comes in and out of stores. As such, this retailer called the LCA’s effort “disingenuous at the very least.”

Another retailer echoed that statement, suggesting an attempt by the LCA to push the issue below the radar.

“I think that it was unfair that the retailers, from the beginning, weren’t given the opportunity to have been included in the changes this year to the Art Festival so that a compromise could be reached,” this businessperson said. “There was an extreme lack of communication regarding the Council on the Arts’ intentions and, when concerns were voiced to them by the businesses, we were quickly dismissed.

“These are hard times we are facing, and it feels as though the Council on the Arts and the village leaders are kicking us when we are down.”

One retailer, whose business was affected by the 2008 street closing, said sales suffered. Another, who faced the same situation last year, said the weekend went well.

On Monday, Rykaszewski said that all pedestrian access points and store fronts, to the best of the LCA’s ability, would be clear during the Art Festival.

She also said her letter would be sent to all Center Street businesses.

Rykaszewski told the Village Board that the LCA could just as easily move the Art Festival to Academy Park or the Artpark plateau.

“We keep it on Center Street because we know it’s important for the village,” she said.

Soluri, on Friday, said he was going to call Rykaszewski and ask her to meet with retailers in an attempt to come to some sort of an agreement or mutual understanding.

“I know there is some concern, but I also think this could be an opportunity for all merchants because the sidewalks will be free,” Soluri said. He suggested sidewalk sales be implemented during the Art Festival and said that, with some creativity and marketing acumen, retailers could make a profit, even with Center Street closed.