Jonesboro, AR – (JonesboroRightNow.com) – Dec. 20, 2024 – The Downtown Jonesboro Alliance (DJA) received emergency grant funding through Main Street Arkansas (MSA) to help businesses along Main Street affected by the road closure due to the structural issues surrounding the old Citizens Bank building.
DJA Executive Director Sarah Doss said the organization was given a set amount. The funding was strictly for restaurants and retail businesses along Main Street between Washington and Cate Avenue, due to MSA restrictions placed on the grant.
“We had to prioritize those in the greatest need,” Doss stated. “The goal is to be able to do it again and be able to help even more businesses. We would love to do this on a broader scale if the opportunity comes along, however, there were strict requirements with this grant.”
MSA is part of the Division of Arkansas Heritage. Its mission is to strengthen and preserve historic downtowns and Main Street districts across the state, providing technical assistance, resources, and ongoing education to local programs.
Parts of Main Street have been shut down since Sept. 25 when a bulge was noticed on the side of the old Citizens Bank building. Citizens can still access Main Street through alternative traffic routes, but even still, business owners have said their revenues are hurting.
The City Council voted to condemn the old Citizens Bank building on Tuesday. With the building condemned, the City can move forward with demolition plans.
After the meeting, Mayor Harold Copenhaver issued a statement, saying the City would work to hire a construction manager and move “as quickly as legally possible” to demolish the building. There’s currently no timeline for demolition.
Elna June, owner of the Bubblee Tea Boba Shop, said the closure has been detrimental to her business.
“The fact is that we have lost over 50% of our sales due to the road closure,” she said, noting a group of loyal out-of-town customers who told her that didn’t know they Main Street was open when they saw the signs, so they had gone elsewhere.
“The moment they see the road is closed; they assume the entire road is closed. They didn’t know they can go around and up Union to still get to us,” June said. “We normally get a lot of walking traffic, but even that has slowed.”
June also spoke about how the situation has affected events in downtown.
“We always look forward to events because they can bring a week worth of sales,” she said. “Like the Christmas Parade, it generally is a big boost for us, but this year they had to move it to Union. They can’t go up Main Street if it’s closed and that really affects the walking traffic that we typically see during the parade.”
She said she was grateful to receive money from the grant.
“The closure has really affected downtown in general,” she said. “We are very grateful to the DJA. Having that little bit of help is a big deal for us right now.”
Eric Roberts, owner of Scoops, also noted how grateful he was for any help he could get with the closure being rough on his business as well.
“The road’s closed and a lot of the Jonesboro population aren’t wanting to deal with the issues downtown,” he said. “The help has been very appreciative. I’m glad that Sarah did some legwork and tried to help everybody on the block.”
Roberts said he felt the blocks closer to the road closure was affected a little more than one those further down.
“This block has been more affected than the other block because the issue is Main Street is one way, so they can’t turn left at Huntington and come back this way. They have to loop the block all the way up and people don’t know that they can turn on Monroe from Union or, if they know that, there’s a lot of people that complain about the parking or other issues downtown. So, when you compound that with the road closure, people are just motivated not to come downtown. Plus, a lot of my business is people who are eating at the restaurants on this block because we have like six restaurants on this block, and I get a lot of their customers for dessert. So, if they’re not getting business, then I’m not really getting business.”
“It’s been so bad,” he continued. “I’ve been open two years. I’ve been open throughout the winter and go year-round, but I’m closing after tomorrow. Saturday’s, my last day for the winter because it’s not really sustainable with rent and utilities.”
Although he is closing for the winter, Roberts said he will be opening back up in early Spring or when the road reopens, whichever comes first.
Ramey Myers, owner of The Parsonage, also noted how hard it has been for restaurants downtown.
“It’s just been as horrible,” Myers said. “I don’t know any other way to say it. It has been so challenging. When it first happened, I mean, we were having $100 days. We can’t have $100 days. It was bad, bad, bad, bad, bad… But thank goodness Christmas came along when it did because parties are what saved us.”
Myers said she’s tried to inform people that they can still access Main Street.
“People are still very confused on how to get here,” she said. “I’ve made videos. I’ve done everything. It’s just when they come up and they see that closure. They’re like, ‘forget it, I’m not going.’ They don’t want to have to find where to go.”
“It’s horrible, it’s just horrible. What’s saving us right now are our Christmas parties, but when that stops comes January, I’m scared… Literally scared to death,” she said. “I am so grateful for [the DJA grant]. It’s not even funny. I could kiss somebody’s feet. I mean nobody had to do that. Nobody had to find a grant for us, and I appreciate that Sarah did that. We were losing our minds, and I couldn’t stop crying every day I was like ‘What are we going to do?’ But she just started looking for grants immediately.”