Published in the Aug. 19 – Sept. 1, 2015 issue of Morgan Hill Life
By Cheri Devlin
Cheri Devlin
Whether you like it or not, downtown construction is now here.
Have you ever had your home remodeled? If you have, you know how inconvenient it is to deal with the noise, the dust, all the people walking in and out, and the many little annoyances associated with the construction. Well, that is what the downtown businesses are going through right now. Yet, among the feelings of frustration, we are also feeling excited and hopeful for the face-lift the downtown is getting.
No one is denying that visiting downtown over the next few months might be frustrating at times, but we can’t lose site of the fact downtown is still the heart of our community. We have been waiting for these improvements for a long time and we are only a few months away from completion. That is something to celebrate.
Sure, it might take you an extra five minutes to get though the downtown core. And you might have to walk a short block and park on Depot Street at the train station for the next few months. But remind yourself about the new Third Street parking garage that is on track to be completed later this year. Construction is well underway and the site is definitely worth checking out if you haven’t lately. It’s amazing how fast the area is transforming.
The city of Morgan Hill, Chamber of Commerce and Morgan Hill Downtown Association are partnering to launch a campaign aimed at supporting the downtown community through this major construction period.
Activities will include helping raise awareness of promotional events being planned each night of the week downtown, distribution of social media video commercials endorsing the downtown business community, and reward programs encouraging the community to visit downtown. The group is also discussing launching a campaign to capture the transformation through a photo montage contest. In addition to raising visibility of our downtown businesses, the group is exploring ways to facilitate small business management consulting workshops that would be free to invited businesses.
Additionally, the city of Morgan Hill is working with local publications to subsidize advertising space for all small businesses in the downtown corridor.
“We are encouraging the community to visit downtown and check out what is happening. We recognize construction is never easy to live through, but we are looking at this situation with a longterm vision and are excited for the future of downtown Morgan Hill,” said the city’s Principal Planner of Economic Development Edith Ramirez.
We all love those reality shows about renovating homes. The demo phase is dirty and the remodel takes time, but the wow factor when you open the door makes it all worth it. That is what you can expect in downtown Morgan Hill. We can’t avoid the fact the construction is going to get a little messy downtown. It’s temporary, but our businesses shouldn’t be. So shop local and shop downtown Morgan Hill.
For more information and updates on the construction downtown, visit MHDowntown.com.
Cheri Devlin is a Morgan Hill resident and president of the Morgan Hill Downtown Association Board of Directors.
