Companies have an impact when Cedar-Lee Garage is reopened after the fire

Cleveland Heights, Ohio-es was a little more than a month since a massive fire broke out in the development of Cedar-Lee-Meadowbrook, which led to the garage of the Cedar Lee temporarily closed. But it is open again now.

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While the costly fire did not touch the Cedar Lee garage, the city of Cleveland completed it when the fire caused a danger to the parking structure.

Since the closure, we have spoken to a handful of companies that say that the lack of parking facilities has led to fewer customers.

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“The point came to the point where we prompted Valet on weekends, and this kind helped even then, [the valets] I no longer knew where to park the cars so that only further problems are caused, ”said Cozumel General Manager Andres Aguirre.

Boss Dog even publishes a message to the front door and on social media that it will continue to be closed on Mondays and Wednesdays “due to the circumstances in our neighborhood”.

From last Friday the garage will be accessible to the public again.

The north side of the garage is on board to ensure the safety of visitors and parked vehicles.

On Monday evening I checked in with some of these shops to see whether the reopening of the garage increased the foot traffic at the weekend.

“We had the best Saturday we have probably had since November, so we had a very good Saturday. My employees did a great job to look at the receipts. We had a very strong Saturday that was great, which was wonderful, and I am very grateful for that, ”said Destiny Burns, the owner of Cle Urban's winery.

Cozumel said it also had a lot of business on Saturday.

“That was probably the busiest Saturday we had since [the garage] was open. We had to wait for this day. Everyone came out to support them and it was good to have it back, ”said Aguirre.

While pedestrian traffic increased in the Cedar-Lee district at the weekend, both Cle Urban Winery and Cozumel claim that there was a lack of communication to get out of the city at this point.

“There was no communication. People ask us: “Hey, what's wrong with them?” We don't know. We find out on Facebook how everyone else does what it was kind of strange, but the city didn't really come by to explain even if you have closed the parking garage. We didn't know that it would close or when it would open. I didn't know that it would open until I saw it on Facebook. We are the ones who are directly affected. They think that more communication takes place, ”said Aguirre.

Burns said she found out less than 24 hours before the reopening.

“These are all really important things that happen, and important milestones that we need to know about. The business owners here, especially in this part of Lee Road, where we are directly affected by the construction site, and we should be treated as stakeholders, ”she noted. “It was very difficult for me to get access to information, to get access to any planning or the like. I ask again and again and I will continue to ask. “

I spoke to Cleveland Heights Director of Communications, Jessica Schantz, Monday evening about the concerns that some companies have.

“Although it is not ideal, we strive to ensure that people visit the business district,” said Schantz. “From the city's point of view, we are very aware of how this affects the companies. They are very very in the head. “

Schantz explained that the city worked in real time to reopen the Cedar Lee garage.

As soon as the city knew that it could open the garage again, Schantz said that the city “hurried that the company was exchanged”.

“It would simply help us to plan and prepare us so that we can be ready, and our customers will be less affected if we have to turn every five minutes to try to keep with the step,” said Burns. “I'm afraid. I'm afraid. We all only hold on. It was very, very difficult not only for us here in Cedar-Lee, but for the entire hospitality industry in Cleveland. “

According to the city of Cleveland Heights, both the city and state fire examinations are completed. The city is now waiting for private insurance companies that cover the developer to carry out their inspection.

“We have to allow you the time you need to keep an appropriate inspection,” said Schantz. “As soon as we get green light, we will have discussions about the process of deconstruction.”

According to the city of Cleveland Heights, no schedule for the final inspections is available at this time.