Merchants Warned to Expect Construction Noise

Executives in charge of building a 500-space downtown parking structure met with area merchants at City Hall on Thursday to warn them that construction will be loud and long, but said they would do their best to be good neighbors.

Standing before eight nervous shopkeepers, engineers used an architectural rendering and a sketch to explain the five-story structure’s construction timeline.

Bomel Construction Inc. of the city of Orange will begin work on the nearly $4.5-million parking structure in June, said Keith Dodson, the company’s pre-construction manager.

Construction on the site--now a public parking lot near the corner of California and Santa Clara streets--is expected to last through next March.

Dodson emphasized that workers will try to keep their cars and trucks off nearby streets as much as possible, to leave space for neighborhood merchants and their customers.

He said he expected noise would cause the greatest inconvenience initially--but the worst part would be over early.

“We will be driving 50-foot-long, 14-inch-square concrete sticks into the ground,” he said, explaining that construction will generally last from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. “We will be doing 15-25 a day, and we expect it to take about three weeks.”

Mild gasps could be heard from shopkeepers in the back of the atrium, most of whom own businesses around the perimeter of the public parking lot.

“I have a restaurant there,” said Frank Parong, owner of California 66, which faces California Street and is adjacent to the structure’s location. “I’m going to have a hell of a time convincing people to come in and relax and have lunch.”

Gordon Crane, Bomel Construction’s project manager, said the construction din will hit 87 decibels.

“No two ways about it, it’s loud,” he said, adding that it would be no more than what might be heard at a noisy intersection.

Later during construction, caravans of 25 to 30 trucks will drive through downtown each day with concrete for the structure.

Some merchants said they are already taking precautionary measures.

Theresa Parks, who works in the Venco Properties Ltd. office across Chestnut Street from the site, said she is putting in extra fans to drown out the noise, and she plans to install a new stereo system. She is also moving her phone to the back of her office, as far away from the site as possible.

The owner of Economy Upholstery on Main Street, who refused to give his name, said he would change his business hours--and remain open only four days a week. And Frank Toms, owner of Frank’s Furniture two doors down, said he is just going to wait and see.

Next week, city redevelopment officials will offer merchants a chance to meet with the construction company that will build the 10-screen movie theater in the 500 block of Main Street. That $8.2-million project is expected to be completed next spring.

“I’m totally for the project,” restaurant owner Parong said. “But a year of construction . . . that could really devastate our business.”