ORLANDO, Fla. – A major construction project on Orange Avenue is impacting businesses in the Ivanhoe Village.
Work on the North Orange Avenue Sanitary Sewer improvements began back in September. According to the City of Orlando’s website, the project is expected to last 15 months and will be split into 5 phases.
“We kind of talk about like construction fatigue, right,” said Gnarly Barley owner, Zach Scray. “So everyone’s kind of going through that and they kind of like then they just label this neighborhood as they’re under construction and then they avoid it altogether. That’s the hard part.”
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Scray said his business has been impacted by the construction.
“You never really know how much it’s going to impact you until you’re actually going through it,” Scray said. “I mean, Orange [Avenue] being a main road, we honestly didn’t think it was going to have as much of impact.”
The city’s website with information about the project goes on to say the project is necessary to “address a section of the sanitary sewer pipeline that has undergone settling and now maintains a noticeable flat profile.”
But, in order to make up for fewer customers, several businesses in the Ivanhoe Village including Gnarly Barley, The Pinery, The Lucky Lure and The Hammered Lamb have created the ‘Construction Club.’
Customers can purchase a card and get 10% off their tab until March 11.
“We wanted to come up with a pocket reminder, if you will, of, you know, to give to our patrons, to just let them know to come out and support this neighborhood right now as one financially impacted from the construction,” Scray said.
Scray said so far, the construction club has been a hit.
“I believe we’ve sold over a couple of hundred, which is great,” Scray said. “I mean, the people that are already visiting us love it. They visit us. More people that hear about it, they’re absolutely tickled pink with the idea of what it is.”
The ‘Construction Club’ cards are available to purchase at any of the locations participating.
News 6 reached out to the city for more information, and they said the project is ahead of schedule.
As far as the sewer improvement project, Virginia Drive is expected to be reopened by the first week of March. This phase is ahead of schedule as it was supposed to be completed in April.
We understand that infrastructure projects like these are necessary for the integrity of our sewer system and can create a temporary inconvenience. That is why our Public Works Department has been working diligently to expedite the sewer improvement project as quickly as possible.
The city's Public Works project team is sensitive to the parking concerns raised and has been in frequent communication with the neighborhood business owners and have provided additional on-street parking and signage in the area. Furthermore, as far as one year prior to the project, the city's Neighborhood Outreach Coordinator went door to door to communicate with business owners and the Ivanhoe Main Street Director, as well as held neighborhood meetings, sent community newsletters and have kept the project's website updated.
We are also aware that the Ivanhoe Main Street has launched a Club Card promotion that offers discounts to dine at particular restaurants impacted.
City of Orlando Office of the Mayor
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