BANGOR, Maine — Employees at downtown businesses negatively affected by the renovation of West Market Square are thrilled that the construction work is almost complete.
“It has been the biggest nightmare,” Blaze bartender Brittany Cunningham of Bangor said Sunday night. “It’s been a rough couple of months, but once they laid the brick down — what a difference.”
Crews have nearly finished laying bricks in a spiral pattern in the “community event space,” which is similar to the pattern used at the waterfront, and Broad Street has reopened.
Fred Veilleux, a bartender at Paddy Murphy’s Irish Pub, said business did suffer during the summer construction but traffic has already improved.
“I’ve seen the business increase as the work got done,” he said Sunday in between customers. “The summer was difficult — a little rough — but already this week, we’ve been busier.”
The $975,000 construction project started in April and hurt the bottom line of all five restaurants in the square that include Blaze, which opened in January, the Big Easy Lounge at the Charles Inn, The Reverend Noble Pub, Ipanema Bar and Grill and Paddy Murphy’s Irish Pub.
People avoided the heart of downtown while the construction was ongoing because of the congestion it created, especially with Broad Street closed.
“We’re excited it’s nearly complete,” Veilleux said.
Dedicated customers walked through the mud and dust created by the construction work, and “it gave people something to talk about,” Cunningham said.
The city replaced a network of sewer lines that dated back to before the Civil War, along with some water infrastructure that dated back to World War I that connected to downtown businesses and residences. Some were at a breaking point, city officials said.
Construction workers told Cunningham they found something interesting in the square.
“When they were digging, they found underground tunnels used during prohibition,” she said while manning the bar. “It’s history that was almost lost.”
To help the businesses affected by the construction, the city set up signs that read “Pardon our Progress” in an effort to let people know that businesses were still open and accessible despite the construction. The city also organized a series of “Hard Hat Happy Hour” events at each business affected by construction in order to drive people to those businesses.
The aim was to help drive business to the square, but it wasn’t enough, according to the owners.
“We’re lucky to have it done,” Cunningham said. “It’s a lot better. It’s beautiful.”
“It was quite the project,” Veilleux said. “It’s been amazing to watch it unfold.”