Rick Marquez is the executive director of Downtown Lawrence Inc. He’ll talk about Thursday’s sidewalk sale, waterline reconstruction on Massachusetts Street and all your downtown-related queries.

HappyFace

Would the sale be postponed if this incredible heat continues?

Thanks…and God bless

JHawker

Has it ever been considered to close off the main blocks of Massachusetts Street during the sidewalk sale to a) allow the stores to spread their sales out; thus, creating more space, and b) therefore creating a less crowded atmosphere in such busy and hot circumstances? In Europe shopping streets are most often closed to vehicles and the atmosphere is incredible.

KUBABYJ

what time do the stores open?

KUBABYJ

what time does this start

Moderator

Hi. We’ll begin our chat with Rick Marquez, Director of Downtown Lawrence, Inc., in just a few minutes.

Rick Marquez

Hello, I am very happy to be here.

ilkeeze

Is it possible to delay the sidewalk sale to NEXT Thursday because of the heat?

Rick Marquez

I think that with all of the preparations made by everyone involved, it would be nearly impossible to move it. Most people also know that the sale is always the third Thursday in July. We also could not accurately predict what the weather is going to be like next week.

Kearney

Why is the sidewalk sale always held at the hottest time of the year? Or perhaps I should ask….why is it always blazing hot whenever the sidewalk sale is held? LOL! Any chance that in the future the sidewalk sale could be held a month earlier…or a month later?

Rick Marquez

I am not sure why the date was chosen initially. We have not discussed moving it to a different month, but some people have suggested having more than one sale during the year.

small_fish_in_small_pond

What are the official hours of the sale?

Rick Marquez

The official hours are sun up to sun down. Some shops will be up and ready by 6:00 am and will go until 8:00 or 9:00 pm.

lawrenceks66

It sure would be nice if Mass street was closed during the Sidewalk Sale and vendors were allowed to spread out into the parking and street space. It would be much safer as well. Do you ever see this happening?

Rick Marquez

This is not something that we wanted to look at this year. We are always looking for ways to ensure that the sale is a positive experience for everyone.

Moderator

How will the waterline work affect the things this year? Will the fences be in the same place, removed or what?

Rick Marquez

Work on the project will halt for the day and begin again Friday morning. The fences will be moved off of the sidewalk on the west side of Mass allowing for all of the sidewalk space to be used. Nowak Construction and the City have done a wonderful job of cooperating with the business owners to help make sure the day is a success.

Moderator

We understand the sale might be older than the 35 years commonly circulating in town. Please set us straight on the history.

Rick Marquez

I was told yesterday by a long time businessman that the sale is actually in its 47th year. He said it was started in 1959 and that the Ben Franklin store (where The Buckle currently resides) was one of the first participants.

Moderator

Moving off the topic of the sidewalk sale…

macon47

Rick, we downtown merchants have BEGGED
for the city commissioners to do
something about the beggars
panhandlers and bums in downtown
lawrence. we know some lawerencites think they are cute, but they run off out of town people who come down
town to shop. plus they steal
stuff out of the stores for
booze and smokes.
what can we do?

Rick Marquez

DLI currently has one of our board members serving on the CCC (Community Cooperation Committee) that deals with some of these issues. We will continue to participate in these and will work with all of the parties to tackle this.

Moderator

You’ve been on the job a few months now and this will be your first sidewalk sale. What do you expect?

Rick Marquez

I am expecting a huge event, with thousands of people. It is going to be exciting to have all of Mass Street filled up and I hope all of the participants do very well. I have been told that it is also a huge social event and I look forward to that.

Moderator

Is the City or DLI taking any specific steps to help shoppers beat the heat (i.e., free water, mist tents) or will that be up to merchants to handle?

Rick Marquez

I believe that there will be locations handing out free water. There are not any mist tents expected. We would encourage people to follow all of the health tips that have been posted by the media the past few days and stay cool, drink lots of water, wear a hat, and wear your sunscreen.

Moderator

FYI: You can see a story with some of those heat-beating tips tonight at 6 and 10 on Channel 6…

Moderator

How big is the expected crowd? Where are the best places to park?

Rick Marquez

I have been told the crowd can approach 40,000 for the day. I would hope we could hit that mark. There are plenty of parking spaces at the various lots behind the shops on NH and Vermont, the parking garage at 9th and NH, and don’t forget that rides on the “T” are FREE for the day. You might think about that-a ride on an air conditioned bus. Most of the routes come to downtown.

Moderator

That concludes our chat for today. Our thanks to DLI Director Rick Marquez for stopping by. The Sidewalk Sale runs from sun-up to sundown Thursday.