Fort Collins' Linden Street is open to the public, and businesses are relieved, excited

After years of construction, Linden Street is open to vehicles again. And, occasionally, pedestrians.

The remodel, which cost about $3.9 million, turned Linden from Walnut to Jefferson streets into a convertible street, meaning it can transform from a roadway to a gathering space that can be closed off to cars for things like festivals or markets. The city of Fort Collins hoped after its remodel that Linden would become a bridge between Old Town Square and the River District.

While the street is reopened, the project is nearly completed and the area is more pedestrian-friendly and aesthetically pleasing, the long period of construction took its toll on businesses whose owners are glad to see it end.

The street reopened to the public Aug. 26 after shutting down on Jan. 31 this year. Because of the construction, around eight bars and restaurants that added patio dining that helped keep them in operation during the pandemic lost those spaces, according to previous Coloradoan reporting.

At the time the street closed, a number of business owners expressed concerns that after a rocky two years because of COVID-19, the impacts of construction closures would be heavily felt.

Now that they’re on the other side of the project, Linden Street businesses are ready to return to full operations and are eager for patrons.

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Businesses excited for a return to normalcy, want people to know Linden Street is now open

Brendan Charles, co-owner of Hydrate IV Bar, said he’s happy to have the street open again, loves the way things are looking and is “happy to have some normalcy again.”

He said that while he doesn’t think January was the right time to close the street and begin construction so fresh off of COVID-19 impacts, he isn’t sure there was a right time.

“It was tough. We had a couple of instances that our customer base were turned off (and) at least a handful of instances where we lost business, for sure,” he said.

“We've yet to operate under normal times, we don't have a status quo,” Charles said of his nearly two-year-old business. “So this kind of marks the beginning of all of that for us, we hope. And we're really excited about Old Town and … being able to be a part of the community.”

Kristy Wygmans, owner of Pour Brothers, said she's relieved and excited that the construction is predominantly done and Pour Brothers can, hopefully, return to pre-pandemic levels of business.

Wygmans said the closure was harder on her business than COVID-19 was on revenue, and she hopes people realize the street is now open.

"I think people just forget about it a little bit. They've kind of been avoiding it for so long (and) it's easy for them to just go with their kind of new habit," she said of people steering clear of Linden.

Wygmans also felt there was no "right time" to close the street. After the pandemic, she just viewed the closure as another obstacle.

"After having been through a true emergency, I think all of the businesses were really good-spirited about it," Wygmans told the Coloradoan. "Whereas, if we hadn't had that, attitudes might have been a lot different. It might have seemed more detrimental and catastrophic than it was. But having just survived a pandemic, and then having this, we're like, 'Alright, we can do this ... hopefully.' "

Andre Johnson, a manager at the Blind Pig, called the months of construction “a long, painstaking process” that led to a dropoff in business, but he expressed gratitude for a reliable customer base that kept doors open.

Since Linden Street reopened, he said business has “very slowly but surely” picked up, and he — like Wygmans — believes that as word continues to get out that the street is reopened, business will continue to pick up.

The Blind Pig is especially happy to have its patio back, though it’s a bit smaller than it was when it was able to sprawl into the street prior to construction. "We're really excited to be reopened, our patio's ready to go, we're ready to rock and roll," Johnson said.

Currently, the city is operating under emergency orders put in place during COVID-19 that allow for extended patios and street dining. However, city staff are in the process of finalizing code updates to take to City Council that will allow for extended patios and potentially street dining areas, according to Ginny Sawyer, project and policy manager for Fort Collins.

“We recognize it’s time (past time!) to normalize operations that we would like to continue,” Sawyer said in an email to the Coloradoan.

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What to know about the new design

There is still parking available on Linden, it just looks a little different.

Parking has been converted to parallel spots rather than the diagonal parking that was there before the remodel.

Although the street can be converted to a pedestrian-only area, cars are still able to drive on it except for during special events.

To celebrate the reopening of the street, the city is planning an event on Friday, Sept. 16 “to show off the convertible aspect of the street." More details about the event have not yet been released.

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Molly Bohannon covers city government for the Coloradoan. Follow her on Twitter @molboha or contact her at mbohannon@coloradoan.com. Support her work and that of other Coloradoan journalists by purchasing a digital subscription today.

This article originally appeared on Fort Collins Coloradoan: Linden Street in Fort Collins is open to vehicles again after remodel