For the third year in a row, roadway construction is happening on Centre Street in the area of Hyde Square and Jackson Square. That has Gerald Robbins, executive director of the Hyde/Jackson Square Main Street (HJSMS), rolling out a series of promotions to keep customers coming in despite the construction.
This year, the Boston Water and Sewer Commission is working to complete a water main replacement on Centre Street, according to Robbins. The work is half done and is expected to be finished by the end of July.
Construction can be “pretty destructive to businesses,” Robbins said in a recent phone interview. But, he added, the area has “fared fairly well.”
Robbins looks to continue that streak with the “Hyde & Jackson Squares $50 Shopping Spree Raffle.” HJSMS will place a symbol, such as a piñatas or maracas, inside a store or restaurant in the HJSMS district. To enter the raffle, take a picture of the symbol and spend more than $5 at the business during construction hours. Send the picture along with a receipt to HJSMS, which will hold a weekly raffle to find the winner of a $50 shopping spree at any HJSMS business participating in the promotion. Winners will be announced on the HJSMS’s social media accounts, in the Gazette, and other publications.
The shopping spree is a HJSMS project to finding out how other business communities have dealt with multi-year construction projects. Taylor Cain, HJSMS intern and PhD candidate at Boston University, researched how communities in western Massachusetts; Lansing, Michigan; and Little Tokyo in Los Angeles solved the construction problem and what promotions they ran. The final report will be sent to Main Street districts throughout the city so they will know how to deal with similar problems.
Another promotion that HJSMS will have will be its second annual “Centre Street Sidewalk Sale,” which will take place on May 21 between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Robbins said that businesses along the street will be displaying wares and specials in front of their stores and streets musicians will be performing. There will also be raffles for neighborhood gift cards that can be used in 25 businesses in the district.
Robbins said that despite the construction, there is still plenty of spaces to park, including the municipal parking lot at 350 Centre Street, and that the area has several transit options that the MBTA provides.
For more information, visit hydejacksonsquare.org or go to its social media account on Facebook or Twitter.