The Battalion
Ap&i e life
Section B
Page 1
Northgate in transition
Summer construction on College Main
is only the beginning of area's facelift
By Rachel Barry and
Brad Russell
The Battalion
W hile many of its pa
trons were gone for
the summer, College
Main endured heavy machin
ery and mud pits as part of
revitalization plans that will
eventually change the entire
Northgate area.
The construction has given
way to brick sidewalks and
crosswalks and new pavement
for College Main between Uni
versity Drive and Church
Street. The construction be
gan when most students were
leaving for summer vacation,
but the complete renovation
plans may not end for another
forty years.
Todd McDaniel, Northgate
project coordinator, said the
recent construction signals
the “renaissance of the
Northgate area.”
Several plans are going to
be considered by a committee
of merchants and city offi
cials. Some minor improve
ments — such as remodeling
the storefronts and putting
in new lighting — may only
fake a few months.
Organizers say that when
one of the three options cur
rently under consideration is
chosen to serve as the “mas
ter plan” for Northgate, it
could take up to 40 years for
completion. One such plan
includes a hotel, nationally
franchised restaurants and a
branch library.
“I believe that Northgate
has enormous potential to
become the entertainment
center of College Station,”
McDaniel said.
Before this “entertain
ment center” can become a
reality, Northgate merchants
must recoup from problems
stemming from recent con
struction to College Main.
Some merchants were forced
to close their doors for a por
tion of the summer.
Dave Atkinson, owner of
Dead Lazio’s coffee house,
said the construction has hurt
his business and forced him to
close for the month of July.
“Our business quickly
dropped to one-fifth of what it
was before,” Atkinson said.
“People didn’t realize we were
open or didn’t want to park
two blocks away and walk.”
Business has slowly picked
up at Dead Lazio’s. Atkinson
said he hopes publicity plans
for the fall will increase the
traffic to Dead Lazio’s.
Although Lacey’s, a jewel
ry store on College Main,
was also forced to close for
part of the summer Manager
Deena McKindles said the
construction is beneficial.
“Our store only stands to
gain from this because we
are a retail store,” McKindles
said. “In our minds, staying
here this summer was an in
vestment into what it’s going
to be in the future.”
Aggies International, a
Northgate international
grocery store, was forced to
cut its business hours in
half during the summer.
Business became so bad
that the store was forced to
permanently close.
Residents of the neighbor
hood behind Northgate were
also affected by the summer’s
construction. Changing con
struction sites and muddy
roads frustrated students
trying to get around town.
Anuj Kumar, a business
graduate student who lives
in the neighborhood behind
Northgate, said the construc
tion forced him to change his
daily schedule.
“I have to start early from
home every morning because
I was late every day to
work,” Kumar said.
Although the summer con
struction strained business
for Northgate merchants,
McDaniel said the storekeep
ers appreciate what the con
struction will do for the fu
ture and how it was handled
this summer.
McDaniel said the revital
ization is important to the
area’s future and will raise
the potential for attracting
tourists.
“There is definitely more
to Northgate than meets the
eye,” McDaniel said. “We
only want to make the public
more aware of what’s here
and to bring more diversity
and selection to the area.”
Storefronts face change
The city of College
Station's budget for
the next two years
will provide
$500,000 to revitalize
Northgate. A commu
nity meeting is sched
uled for Sept. 15 to
discuss the next step
of the area's recon
struction.
Stew Milne, The Battauon
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