New obstacles stand in the way of four on-campus businesses on Belmont Boulevard. Plywood-clad scaffolding, a dark mesh-lined gate and solid construction barricades inhibit the street view of Chick-fil-A, Mesa Komal Café, House Of and Where the Well Things Are. “It’s kind of blocking the whole street, and if you can’t see it, it’s not in your mind. You know, out of sight, out of mind,” said Peyton Williams, marketing director for Sodexo at Belmont University. The barricades that form a temporary pedestrian walkway replace 12 parking spaces on the boulevard. All storefronts remain accessible through the tunnel-like walkway which lead to the stores’ main entrances. While businesses will maintain their regular hours for the duration of the semester, Williams said she's concerned about the impact this obstruction may have on their sales until the construction ends at the end of November. For off-campus students and visitors, the store is difficult to find even without the scaffolding, and now it’s even harder to park a car and find, said Belmont senior and member of the House Of marketing team Georg’Ann Daly. “We definitely want to make sure we’re pushing ourselves to keep business the same,” Williams said. So, why all the scaffolding? The renovation of the Vince Gill Room. Currently 2,496 square feet and located in the concourse level of the Curb Event Center, the space is commonly used for meetings, receptions, dinners and workshops. “The Vince Gill Room is undergoing a significant aesthetic remodel which includes an expansion of the space. Belmont personally informed all impacted businesses as well as our Neighborhood Advisory Group, which includes a representative from the retailers across Belmont Boulevard, as soon as required changes in traffic flow were confirmed by the general contractor,” according to a statement from the university. “The renovation will allow us to better serve our community by accommodating more people in this area for special events and enhancing our game day experience,” the university said. As the remodeling of the Vince Gill Room looks to persist until November, Williams and the Sodexo team said they will work to keep the four businesses booming. “We definitely want to hope for the best, but just expect the worst. So, we’re just trying to be very, very proactive about this,” Williams said. “We definitely want to make sure we’re pushing ourselves to keep business the same.”
— This article was written by Tessa Pendleton