Construction hurting Mallory Square vendors

BY PRU SOWERS

KONK LIFE STAFF WRITER

 

Delayed storm drain construction along Mallory Square is causing trouble for some Sunset Celebration vendors.

 

Artist Joanne Hasman made a plea for help to Key West City Commissioners on Jan. 6, saying construction had completely closed the public parking lot next to Mallory Square and the restaurant El Meson de Pepe and Mallory Square. Vendors, artisans and performers at the nightly Sunset Celebration on the square have always used the parking lot to unload their carts, merchandise and other materials used at the popular nightly tourist event.

 

But installation of a new storm water system along Front Street forced the parking lot to close the first week in January. Now, the only way to get the vendor carts, food and merchandise into Mallory Square is via a pedestrian pass-through next to the Waterfront Playhouse. The resulting back-up of Sunset Celebration participants trying to unload has caused some of them to give up and go home, Hasman said, adding she lost two days of business so far because she couldn’t get into the square.

 

“I don’t know how I am going to manage. And a lot of other people don’t either. This is a serious, serious problem affecting about 80 people,” she told commissioners.

 

Key West Utilities Director John Paul Castro said the Mallory Square parking lot is scheduled to be closed for 30 days, reopening in the second week of February. Construction was initially scheduled for earlier in the year, before the winter tourist season, but permit approvals took longer than anticipated. And the construction schedule couldn’t be pushed back, Castro said.

 

“We couldn’t delay if any longer because it is grant funded and has to be finished by May 18th,” he explained.

 

Castro added that metal bollard poles blocking vehicular traffic on the road next to Waterfront Theater can be removed, making it possible for cars to drive into the square for vendor unloading. If there is a backup during unloading, Castro suggested the vendors staggered their arrival times to make it easier for everyone to access the square.

 

“We can’t assume the liability to allow people into the construction zone,” he said.

 

But Hasman said Homeland Security regulations won’t allow cars to be driven into Mallory Square when a cruise ship is in port, forcing vendors to carry merchandise or roll their carts in from Front Street. And it’s not just Sunset Celebration vendors contributing to the afternoon traffic jam, she added.

 

“We’re unloading where [Conch] trains and trollies and bus tours and the ghost tour park. Everybody is yelling at everybody. The people come out of the [Waterfront] theater and yell at us because we’re blocking them in,” she said, adding, “This is no way to run an event.”

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