Construction on Dubuque Street is well underway; however, businesses in the area have seen noticeable revenue dips since construction began. To address some of their concerns, the Iowa City Downtown District has created a new gift card program.

The Dubuque Street Reconstruction Project began on March 11 and is replacing “critical public infrastructure that is in poor condition,” according to the city’s website. The project is slated to be completed by Sept. 7.

In the most recent Dubuque Street Reconstruction Project Update — which is held weekly — representatives from the City of Iowa City addressed business owners and community members. Many concerns were expressed, including concerns about dust, noise, and bugs.

Construction concerns

Catherine’s Boutique, located at 7 South Dubuque St., has been a fixture of the downtown community for over 40 years and has lost around 40 percent of its revenue since the start of the reconstruction project, owner Catherine Champion said.

“Money is number one; noise and dust are number two,” Champion said when asked about her concerns for her business.

Macy Krall, owner of 223 Baby Co. on 21 South Dubuque St., echoed Champion’s concerns. Unlike Catherine’s, 223 Baby Co. is a budding small business.

“Most small businesses fail in the first five years, and I am going on my third,” Krall said.

Like Catherine’s, 223 Baby Co. is down 40-50 percent amidst the reconstruction project.

During Last Friday’s meeting, it was announced that the construction team would begin on the sidewalk and alley portion of the project during the week of July 15. This comes right in time for the annual downtown sidewalk sales, which will be held July 18-21.

The street will be open during sidewalk construction to pedestrian traffic. Wooden ramps will also be put at the door of each business as access points through the turmoil of the sidewalk construction.

The business owners are planning to adapt to their sidewalk being closed and take the sidewalk sales to the street, where the only access point for customers wanting to shop will be Washington Street.

The alley next to Sports Column where Studio 13 is located will also be under construction the week of July 15. This part of the project is slated to take around a month because of all of the utilities that the alley houses.

All of the construction, paving, and noise are set to be done by Sep. 17, but the City of Iowa City has offered an incentive to the construction company to be done by Aug. 23. This earlier date will open the space again in time for the University of Iowa classes, which start on Aug. 26, and the first home Hawkeye football game on Aug. 31.

“As long as it’s [Dubuque Street] up and running before football, we should be alright,” Michael Silver, owner of Nodo Downtown and Dublin said.

The restaurants and bars that call Dubuque Street home like Sports Column, Micky’s, and Dublin depend on Iowa home game days to keep their business afloat.

Parking rate concerns

Construction issues were only part of the concerns raised at Friday’s meeting. On July 1, the Iowa City City Council implemented new parking rates. Both ramp parking and meter parking have doubled. Ramps are up from $1 to $2 an hour, and meters have doubled from $1.50 to $3 an hour.

The Dubuque Street business owners see this as one more obstacle in customers’ ways to shop at their small businesses.

“When someone comes to shop at a small business, they take 10 extra steps than walking into a Target,” Krall said. “Target has free parking; we don’t.”

The parking prices are enforced from 8 a.m. until 6 p.m., which concerns boutique owners who close up shop before then.

“They are only taxing daytime people; people that want to come down and drink don’t have to pay for parking,” Krall said

Champion said the lack of communication between city officials and business owners regarding the parking price raise has been inadequate.

“The city can do more; the parking issue is catastrophic for our employees and our customers,” Champion said.

Catherine’s Boutique took to their social media to air its concern for the parking and started a petition in hopes of getting the city council to lower the prices.

Champion has been a long-time business owner, but the parking coupled with the construction is hitting the iconic Iowa City boutique harder than ever.

“I have run businesses in this town forever, and I can’t just give up on these businesses and give up on our customers,” Champion said. “If we don’t get some sort of equitable thing, we are seriously thinking about moving out of downtown.”

With the small business owners’ concerns over their livelihoods and their employees’ livelihoods, the Iowa City Downtown District has tried different measures to bring more customers to Dubuque Street.

“We have offered free parking; we have offered free delivery downtown; every little bit helps.” Silver said.

Most recently, the Iowa City Downtown District has implemented a gift card system.

When customers buy a total of $150 worth of clothes, food, coffee, or any other goods from the list of businesses on Dubuque Street, they can then get a $20 gift card to the Iowa City Downtown District, which can be used at a plethora of locations across Iowa City.

All customers need to do is keep their receipts and make sure to fill out the form on the website to receive the gift card. The offer is running from July 8 through Aug. 8.

Although the offer is just starting, owners are hopeful that this will bring more traffic through the Dubuque Street business community.

“We don’t have a big social media presence, but as long as everyone is sharing it together.” Silver said.

The next Dubuque Street Reconstruction Project Update will be at Nodo Downtown on Friday, July 19, at 10 a.m.