OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) – An open house held by the city at the Durham Museum tonight to answer questions about ongoing streetcar construction, but what business owners want is solutions.
The streetcar project has devastated businesses in Blackstone with construction for months.
As time goes on, their hope for a solution to help them stay afloat is waning.
For small business owners, every origin story is deeply personal.
“The name Cunningham’s comes from my moms side, Inez Cunningham,” said Derek Richards, general manager of Cunningham’s Pub and Grill.
Like many other concerned small business operators affected by construction in Blackstone, he can’t make it to the open house on the streetcar tonight.
Jaree Johnson, who co-owns Antidote Salon, can.
“My employees are commission, so if no one walks in they don’t get paid,” Johnson said.
She brought her dad for support, expecting to speak with the mayor
Her business was supposed to be a safe haven for she and her business partner, rebuilding their careers after going through recovery.
“I will tear up and start crying, like it is beyond personal for us,” Johnson said.
Tonight, she’s here to advocate for funding to help her employees stay afloat. She doesn’t feel heard.
“I feel like there’s a lot of repetition with what is said,” Johnson said. “A lot of tell you what you want to hear.”
The City of Omaha’s public works department says they’re doing what they can to improve communication and help businesses stay above water.
“We’re always looking for more,” Austin Rowser with the public works department said. “That’s why we used the passport program the mayor announced yesterday.”
City officials say it’s too late to pull the plug on the project without leaving the city owing a lot of money to builders.
For those who own businesses in Blackstone, this isn’t just a threat to their income. It’s a blow to everything they care about.
“It’s very personal for us, so it’s like, failures not an option,” Johnson said.
Showing up, over and over, is their only choice.
The mayor’s office tells us the mayor had another obligation this evening that kept him from this town hall, but city staff “were available to the public with materials and maps to answer questions and otherwise discuss the project with the approximately 100 people who showed up.”
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