COVINGTON — Fifth Street — closed since fire ravaged the Odd Fellows Hall — is scheduled to open to traffic on Monday, but it could be weeks before Madison Avenue is reopened.

        Fifth Street, a state highway, is closed from Russell to Scott, and Madison, a main artery, is closed from Fourth to Sixth. Pedestrians are allowed to walk most of the area, but businesses next to the hall remain closed.

Madison Avenue remains blocked just north of Fifth Street while crews clean up rubble and stabilize the shell of the Odd Fellows Hall. (Patrick Reddy photo) | ZOOM |

        Covington City Manager Greg Jarvis fears the possibility of rebuilding the hall has some business owners thinking that is the reason for the street closures.

        “What we're doing now would have to have been done,” he said of the excavation of the rubble that blocked Fifth Street. One wall of the hall fell into the street.

        But merchants are losing business and they're not happy.

        “It's terrible,” said Jean Clark, manager of Bessler's Economy Market, just a few doors down from the Odd Fellows Hall. “The road (closures) have really, really stopped business.”

        Mr. Jarvis said the streets cannot be opened until workers are finished shoring up the building's shell to avoid a collapse.

        Merchants are hoping for a speedy completion of the work.

        Young Hui Han, owner of Riverside Korean Restaurant, said lunch business is down 30 percent and dinner is down about 40 percent.

        Two lone men and one woman sat in three booths shortly after lunchtime Tuesday. Ms. Han said people aren't coming for lunch because it would take too long to find parking and navigate their way through the alleys.

        LaRosa's owner Gary Dirr said he is lucky a lot of his business is delivery. Foot traffic to the pizzeria is down about 25 percent.

        “If anyone's dependent on walk-up traffic right now, they're in trouble,” he said.

        Telly McGaha, downtown renaissance manager for Covington, said he has been trying to help those businesses by getting word out that they're open.

        “Most of the business owners are excited about the Odd Fellows project and its impact on the area, but they're also concerned about the (fire's) impact on their business,” Mr. McGaha said.
       

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