‘Tears of joy,' Six months since hotel explosion, downtown Fort Worth celebrates reopening of 8th Street
July 25,2024
See full NBC DFW article by Alanna Quillen and Tahera Rahman here.
Downtown Fort Worth businesses are celebrating a huge milestone this week.
Crews have reopened 8th Street for the first time since an explosion at the Sandman Hotel back in January.
The months-long street closure to repair the road put a strain on nearby shops.
But on Thursday, Downtown Fort Worth, Inc. hosted the "Unblocked Party" to celebrate the small businesses that struggled through the closures. The party ran from noon to 2 p.m. on 8th Street at Houston and Throckmorton Streets, and dozens of neighbors showed up.
"Oh my gosh, amazing. Amazing. I don’t think I’ve ever seen this many people," said Lisa Jackson, owner of La’Creamian ice cream shop.
After six months, she greeted a stream of customers with smiles, hugs, and fist bumps.
She served so many scoops that she was running low after her first hour, tearing up at the realization.
"What’s going through your head?" NBC 5 asked.
"We almost closed," Jackson replied.
“This is great news for our merchants,” said City Council District 9 representative Elizabeth Beck. “The City has been encouraging the construction company to repair the road as quickly as possible and our emergency grant program for the merchants was a big help. This has been a complicated project, but we are happy the end is near, and we can get traffic flow moving again.”
Some party attendees said it was nice to see another step toward normalcy.
“It’s a good feeling to see everything coming back together," said Phillip Bermejo, who works nearby.
He and his coworker, Sandra Franco, have worked downtown for a decade or more, and remember the explosion.
“[I was] in our break area, walking across the room and the glass just kind of… bubbled when the explosion went off. And we looked out because we could hear sirens, so once we heard the sirens, we knew something bad was happening," Franco recalled.
There are still signs of the explosion that happened at the Sandman Hotel in January that injured 21 people. Boarded-up windows and barricades are still visible on the hotel, which sits on the corner of 8th and Houston streets.
The cause of the explosion still remains under federal and local investigation. The Fort Worth Fire Department said it is still involved with the investigation and could not give an estimate on when it would be complete. The hotel is still closed as repairs and lawsuits are still ongoing.
The lead on the investigation, they said, is Northland Properties, which owns the Sandman.
NBC 5 asked the company about an investigation timeline, but a spokesperson did not provide any investigation updates, saying their focus is on reopening the hotel.
“We are committed to the great city of Fort Worth and to restoring the Sandman Signature Hotel on this historic site.
We remain focused on our reopening efforts with the full clean-up and removal of debris throughout the building now completed. We have identified the locations that require repair or replacement and are anticipating receiving the detailed drawings soon.
As a part of the fabric of the business community and a significant employer in the region, we are encouraged by the community support during this challenging time and know that we all look forward to opening our doors again as soon as we can.
We will continue to provide updates as they become available.” -Bláithín Noone, Northland Properties
Heavy damage to 8th Street led to long-term repairs and a six-month-long road closure.
Business owners along the street reported a 30 percent drop in customers over that time and a 90% drop in walking traffic.
“The impact is they haven’t had vehicular traffic and the street has looked scary for the past six months, so they have lost a mass amount of revenue because they just haven’t had the foot traffic that they’ve needed to thrive," explained Kaylee Pratt, spokesperson for Downtown Fort Worth, Inc., the group that manages downtown's Public Improvement District.
Affected merchants include The Archibald, Barber’s Bookstore, Basic Bar, Cowtown Segway Tours, David Dalton’s Salon, La’Creamian, Sandman Signature Hotel, and Thompson’s Bookstore.
Even up until earlier this month, the shops barely got their sidewalk back.
"I mean, when you have a street that's blocked off right in front of your business, nobody even wants to walk down the street because it looks like an alley of some type," said Donnie Vouklizas, an employee at Cowtown Segway Tours. "So we believe it's going to turn our business around. Hopefully, the 75% that we've lost in the last six or seven months."
In March, the city launched a $250,000 relief fund to keep the businesses afloat.
"We're really proud of the city of Fort Worth for helping us during this time of the year," said Vouklizas. "They've done a lot for us, and we really appreciate the city of Fort Worth and all the people that work hard to get this where we are today."
This week, there is more relief with the reopening and block party -- which business owners see as a sign of hope.
“I cried today, but I cried—that was tears of joy. I cried every day, and it was tears of uncertainty and frustration and, you know, no one could get to me, no one knew me, I was just brand new starting... So, I’m so happy that now, we have a chance. We got a chance to make it now," said Jackson as she wiped away tears.
The block party on Thursday featured:
- Free ice cream from La’Creamian for the first 100 customers, courtesy of the Sandman Fort Worth Signature Hotel
- Segway rides are provided by Cowtown Segway Tours
- Treasures at Barber’s Bookstore
- Free Downtown Fort Worth t-shirts (while supplies last)
- Live music from local duo, Mountain Natives
- Photo Opportunities
- A drawing to win an 8th Street package including 2 Downtown Cowtown Segway tours, a $50 gift card to The Archibald, a $50 gift card to Thompson's Bookstore, a Barber's Bookstore gift certificate, and a David Dalton's Hair Salon package.
Locations Mentioned: The Archibald, Barber's Bookstore, Cowtown Segway Tours, David Dalton Salon, La'Creamian, Sandman Signature Fort Worth Downtown Hotel, Thompson's Bookstore