Despite some residual hesitation to gather in large crowds—and businesses’ troubles finding workers to serve drinks, bus tables or ring up sales—business in Downtown Long Beach is slowly rebounding after the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the Downtown Long Beach Alliance’s newly released annual retail snapshot.
The first ship to sail from Long Beach will be the Panorama, a 4,008-passenger vessel set to depart on a seven-day cruise down the Mexican Riviera.
Volunteers can choose to help at one of two locations: the Laugh Factory at the Pike at 151 S. Pine Ave., or Promenade Square Park at 215 E. First Street.
By last summer, parts of Downtown looked like a ghost town, but the foot traffic this year is starting to return, said Kraig Kojian, president of the Downtown Long Beach Alliance.
The decision comes after some businesses in the area lamented the negative impact the closure has had on their sales, as the breakfast and lunch crowds struggled to find parking when picking up their orders.
While the full closure of the main thoroughfare in Downtown has largely pleased restaurant and bar owners, other businesses say the closure has hurt their bottom line.
While early construction began on the Verizon Building adpative reuse, a lack of funding and litigation has put the project into a state of emergency.
Starting on March 8, AquaLink and AquaBus will have services on Saturdays and Sundays all year. The taxis will still offer their traditional summer service running seven days a week from Memorial Day to Labor Day.
The temporary road closures, from 10 p.m. today (Friday) to 10 p.m. Sunday, will cause detours for motorists heading west on Ocean Boulevard as they leave downtown Long Beach, as well as southbound travel along Harbor Scenic Drive heading toward the Queen Mary.
While the Planning Commission had already approved the project, the plan came back to the City Council for review on Tuesday following appeals from a resident and labor unions.
