Market Plaza construction on track despite delays, impacts on Greenwood businesses

A downtown Greenwood road project is nearing completion, and some local businesses have reported struggles.

Since late June, Market Plaza has been under a state of construction as crews work to completely reconstruct the road, update stormwater infrastructure and lighting, and add sidewalks along a stretch of the street from the Pleasant Creek Bridge to Madison Avenue. The project also involves installing a retaining wall on Market Plaza near Madison Avenue, removing an exit from Dollar General, and adding street parking through the removal of a small number of parking spaces.

The project, which costs just over $1.5 million, was given a four-month time frame for construction — putting completion in October.

This timeline is still on track, though there have been some unexpected delays, city officials say.

Where the project stands

As the project got underway, Dave O’Mara Contractors Inc., the city’s contractor for the project, encountered unexpected conditions under the ground that led to some delays. One of the biggest unexpected discoveries was of previously unknown storm sewer lines, said Mark St. John, city engineer.

“We have found six storm sewer lines that we didn’t know were out there,” St. John said. “They’re really old, clay storm sewers — probably 50+ years old. Some of them probably, very likely, predate when Market Plaza — the roadway and the buildings around it — existed.”

Every time another storm sewer line is found, crews have to clean it out and scope it out to make sure they know where it comes from and where it’s going. This takes time, he said.

Some of the lines found have been determined to be abandoned lines that “don’t go anywhere.” Others have been reconnected into the new storm sewer system on Market Plaza, St. John said.

St. John says there is no way city officials or the contractor could’ve known about the lines before the project began. Surveyors did locate lines before the project began, but there was no record of the lines, so the crew didn’t know to look for them.

“The other thing they’ll do is they’ll look in existing storm sewer structures and see the inverts and determine where [the] storm sewer ties in, where it’s visible at,” St. John added. “These were not tied into any existing storm sewers, so there is no way to know they were there in advance of construction.”

Crews also had to replace the sanitary sewer main in the area, an unexpected development that caused another delay. The main replacement is being paid for by the city’s sanitary sewer utility, which shouldn’t impact overall project costs, he said.

However, there will be a cost associated with some of the additional storm sewer work. St. John doesn’t expect this to be significant though, and extra costs are already built into a buffer for the project, he said.

Most of the businesses along Market Plaza also now have new sewer connections as well. Old clay sewer lines became new, more durable PVC lines, St. John said.

The work is still hoped to be finished by the end of October, St. John said.

Business impacts

Some nearby businesses have felt negative impacts from the project.

Earlier this month, The Suds posted on Facebook that they would be closed “until further notice” because of the project’s impacts. The parking was at “a minimum” and sales were down 75%, the Sept. 17 post said.

Representatives from the drive-in did not return the Daily Journal’s requests to speak with them about the project’s impacts.

The Suds does have a food trailer to help pay their bills, the drive-in posted on one of its pages. They also planned to be at nearby car shows in Morgan and Hendricks counties.

Word also began to spread that the Dollar General at the intersection of Madison Avenue and Market Plaza would close as well, with some saying it was due to construction and the elimination of a driveway from the store’s parking lot to Market Plaza. Employees at the store were unable to comment on the record and referred the Daily Journal to Dollar General’s corporate office. The store’s corporate office did not respond to multiple requests for information, however, signage at the store indicates it will close Oct. 24.

There has also been misinformation about the project as well, including its impact on businesses.

Jockamo Pizza had to respond to misinformation on Facebook, including rumors that they were closing, that the building they are in is being sold and that city is planning to tear down the Walkers Plaza. These are all untrue, a Sept. 19 post from the store shows.

“We have loved being in Greenwood for the last 14 years, and we look forward to serving our loyal customers for many years to come,” Jockamo Pizza says in the post.

Before the project began, city officials said local access for businesses would be maintained during the duration of the project. Signs by road closure and detour signs informed drivers that businesses are open during construction as well.

When asked about some of the impacts businesses like The Suds and Dollar General have felt, St. John said there have not been any access issues and that access has continued to be maintained. However, city officials “do recognize that living or owning a business in a construction zone is not the most enjoyable thing,” he said.

“It comes with some difficulties, and we try to minimize those difficulties as much as we can,” St. John said.

The Suds has “had full access to their site throughout construction,” and city officials have worked “pretty hard” with them, he said.

“Our contractor and our construction inspector has been in contact with them to make sure they have the access they need,” he said.

The Dollar General

For Dollar General, their access to their parking lot has not changed yet. But when the project is over, the driveway onto Market Plaza will be gone, St. John said.

“I don’t know why Dollar General decided to close that store, and I don’t know that it’s entirely related to the construction of Market Plaza,” he said.

The driveway is being eliminated due to its close proximity to Madison Avenue. A retaining wall is being constructed that would allow for the property owner to backfill against the wall and level the parking lot in the future if they desired, St. John said.

Plans for Market Plaza were shared and coordinated with the building’s owner as far back as 2022, St. John said. While it is unknown to city officials what information the building owner passed on to their tenants, all businesses along Market Plaza were invited to an open house for the project in May, he said.

Additionally, Dollar General’s real estate team has reached out to the city “several times over the years” to find new locations because the Market Plaza store doesn’t meet the chain’s current standards, St. John said.

“Many businesses in Old Town Greenwood must receive deliveries in unique ways due to close building proximities and the historic nature of Old Town,” he said. “Dollar General’s Real Estate Team has reached out to Greenwood several times over the years searching for new locations as the Market Plaza location does not meet their current store standards.”

Jockamo Pizza references Dollar General in their Facebook post as well. While Dollar General is closing, it is a business decision and the owner of Walkers Plaza is actively looking to fill the space, the post says.

Looking forward to completion

Coffeehouse Five, another business along Market Plaza, is looking forward to the completion of construction. The coffee shop appreciates the “attention to infrastructure needs so that the Market Plaza area can be more walkable and enjoyed for years to come,” said Riley Denslaw, Coffeehouse Five’s director of external operations.

Any changes to a customer’s routine, including construction, has the potential to disrupt regular business traffic. But Coffeehouse Five’s team had a plan in place for customer communication “early on” following notice of the project, which leads them to believe that it allowed the business to continue as normal of operations as possible, Denslaw said.

“The first week of construction was a learning curve for some customers who were discovering new entry and exit points to access Coffeehouse Five, but we believe their loyalty to our business and desire for a great cup of coffee kept customers coming back despite the short-term inconvenience of the new construction. We have amazing customers,” Denslaw said.

As the project enters its final month, St. John emphasized that businesses along the road are still open. People will just need to access them in a different way, he said.

“If you want to go to Jockamos, you can get to Jockamos right now. You’d access it from the north off of Main Street, that would be the best way to get to it,” St. John said. “Same with NAPA. Use that parking lot on the backside of those properties.”

People will just need to continue to be patient, St. John said.

When asked about the rumor, he also flatly denied that the city was trying to close businesses with the project.

“No,” St. John said.

The rumor is based not only on the construction but also on images of the comprehensive plan that are circulating online. The images show a park in place of the building. This is not something that will happen any time in the near future. The plan most likely would come into play if the building was destroyed in a flood. After a flood, the building would not be able to be reconstructed based on current floodplain regulations, officials have said in the past.