Businesses In The 5th Block Of Downtown Sheridan Main Street Construction Project Grateful Their Block Was Done This Year

Construction along downtown Sheridan Main Street is over for this year and just in time for the Holiday Shopping season.

When the project started back in April, the original plan was to complete 4 blocks this year and the remaining 3 next year.

Construction crews were able to get ahead of their schedule, and instead of the original 4-and-3 plan, it was switched to a 5-and-2 plan, meaning the block between Brundage and Loucks Street was worked on this year.

WYLD Adventures was one of those businesses in the 5th block.

Co-owner Kelsey Rathjen says even though the block that her business is on was not the first block to close back in April, impact from the construction work was beginning to have an effect on business.

It got much worse not long after the 4th of July.

“Once they blocked off our road and then the longest block from here to Grinnell, that’s when we noticed the biggest difference, where people really stopped coming downtown. You couldn’t go across unless you walked 6 blocks down, so I think that’s what really hurt us.”

Like other places, Rathjen had to find some creative ways to draw shoppers in.

“We planned a lot of pop-ups, we had a lot of friends that came in and did pop-ups and then we did our Sip and Shop where we invited people to come into the store and shop after hours as well. We kept trying to have new fun events to get people excited to come downtown, we had our backdoor open, we did prizes if you came in. We did everything we could to try and get people excited about still coming downtown.”

In retrospect, Rathjen says getting the work done on the 5th block this year may have been a blessing in disguise.

“First we were kind of a little frustrated, because we hadn’t made our signage for our back door yet, like a lot of other places could and had time to do, but actually it ended up, we were happy that they threw us in. They got it done and we couldn’t be happier that it’s over with.”

The Wyoming Department of Transportation says work will start on the remaining 2 blocks of Main Street in April of next year and it’s possible it could be done before next year’s Sheridan WYO Rodeo parade in mid-July.