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Catholic gift shop praying for light rail relief
By Ambria Hammel, The Catholic Sun
December 6, 2007
The bumpy and dug-up road along Central Avenue last year cleared room for light rail tracks, but made it difficult for people to access places like The Marian Shop at St. Francis Xavier Parish.
“It really hit us hard,” said Sharon Santa Cruz, shop manager.
Sales for the shop decreased 14 percent in the 2007 fiscal year. It’s down another 5 percent for the first quarter of this year.
“Up to that time, we were increasing” sales, Santa Cruz said.
Construction for Metro, the Valley’s new 20-mile light rail system that will run outside the shop, began in the area in November 2005 and is scheduled to finish by the end of the year.
The shop, along Central Avenue, is midway between a station at Campbell Avenue and Camelback Road. Parish manager Steve Pavich said the worst of construction was last fall.
“We started to get really worried because [Mass] attendance was light and collections were short,” Pavich said.
“So when our attendance dropped, so did our sales,” Santa Cruz added. “Because of the light rail, a lot of people say they don’t come.”
Construction meant road restrictions, open trenches and dust. It also meant excess noise from jackhammers as crews moved utility lines, installed station platforms, worked in the light rail’s guideway and re-built the street.
St. Francis Xavier provided parishioners and shoppers with a map to guide them around the construction. Santa Cruz said Metro and the construction workers have been helpful too.
“They really worked with us,” she said.
Every day Santa Cruz places a sign on the sidewalk to show commuters how to access the shop during construction. Contractors paid for that sign.
“The businesses that really struggle are the retail businesses,” said Howard Steer, Metro’s public involvement manager. More than 300 of the 4,000 businesses along the line are retailers.
Metro launched www.shopthe
line.net in late September. The site is a source of free advertising for businesses along the light rail route. Each listing includes a business description, special parking information, a map and contact information. Some also allow online shopping, though The Marian Shop is not one of them.
“I don’t think the impact has been as big on us as it has been on other businesses because we are a parish and people still attend church,” Santa Cruz said.
The street work was complete about a month ago and she says traffic flows more smoothly. The only project left is to install poles and wiring in the guideway, but that won’t impede traffic.
The commute to the shop or parish from Camelback Road has also improved, according to Albert Santana with the City of Phoenix City Manager’s Office and a local Catholic.
“Now it’s not a hassle” to access the shop, Santa Cruz said. “Come and check us out.”
Downtown Phoenix churchgoers faced similar challenges on a different section of the light rail route. Construction workers recently finished installing rails and moving utility lines in front of Immaculate Heart of Mary Parish at Washington and Ninth streets in September. Churchgoers can now access the parish from Jefferson and Ninth streets.
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