HomeMy WebLinkAboutBridge_Post_01/07/2010L
N THE PALM BEACH POST
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SARA) GRILE/Staff Photographer
5
Tequesta bridge closure tests business owners' ingenuity
Village offers business
forum during bridge
construction.
By BILL DIPAOLO
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
TEQUESTA - Creativ-
ity will keep customers
coming while the new
$2.5 million bridge over
the Loxahatchee River
is being built, local busi-
ness owners say.
"You got to turn a neg-
ative into a positive," said
Richard Berube, owner
of R.J. Insurance, on the
east side of the bridge.
"Restaurants can do
things like advertise that
a person living on the
other side of the bridge
gets a free drink. You got
to have fun with it if you
expect to survive."
The link between the
more commercial east
part of the village and
the mostly residential
western half was.cut Oct.
5 when the bridge was
closed. The new bridge,
which will be about 5 feet
higher, is expected to be
complete this summer.
"It's a double whammy.
Coping with
the bridge
closure
What: Meeting with
local businesses and
village officials
Subject: How
businesses can
promote themselves
during bridge
construction
When: 5:30 p.m.lan.
21
Where: Tequesta
Village Hall, 345
Tequesta Drive
More information: Call
(561) 575-6244 or
visit tequesta.org
my goes bad. And then
the bridge closes," said
John Terzakis, a financial
planner who owns Ameri-
prise Financial east of
the bridge.
Former Mayor Dot-
tie Campbell, who Awns
several buildings in the
Gallery Square shop-
ping center east of the
50-year-old bridge, said
village officials should
lighten business restric-
tions. Businesses need
more outdoor events and
THURSDAY, JANUARY 7, 2010
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Center St. Jupiter .
STEVE LOPEZ/Staff Artist
Jupiter to do business,
said Kathy Livingston,
owner of Fine Linens on
the east side.
Livingston has had a
hefty drop in customers
since the span closed.
"We're not a big chain.
We can't survive without
our local base," Living-
ston said.
Left standing when
the 150-foot long bridge
reopens will be the busi-
nesses that work the
hardest, Terzakis said.
"Business can't, expect
the village to spoon-feed
them. It's up to the busi-
ness community to come
up with creative ways
to get through this," he
said. -
p bill_dipaolo@pbpost.com
Cars travel through the Riverside and Tequesta drives intersection in Tequesta. The Tequesta
Drive Bridge, which was shut down on Oct. 5 for reconstruction, is expected to reopen in the
summer. The $3 mililion bridge will be about five feet taller. Businesses on the east side of
the bridge are feeling the effects of losing clientele from the west side of the bridge.
she said.
"We can't have side-
walk sales. With the
bridge down, businesses
need such events to pro-
mote themselves," said
Campbell.
The village can help,
but business owners
drastic changes of code.
enforcement laws, said
Mayor Patricia Watkins.
"Businesses have to
pick up the ball. The
village has to be careful
that it does not promote
one business over an-
other," Watkins said.
nesses on the east side
- frame shops, travel
agencies, needle point
- are owned by local
residents. They survive
on customers from the
west side. But with the
bridge out, many west-
siders are driving along
the new Island Wav to