Even with many UC Berkeley students gone for the summer, city officials say they are hoping to maintain a festive atmosphere on Sundays by closing off city streets to cars and hosting weekly all-day fairs with entertainment, musical performances and outdoor restaurant seating.
In an effort to revitalize business on Telegraph Avenue, the city of Berkeley will close the three blocks between Dwight Way and Durant Avenue to cars from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Sundays during the summer, beginning June 9. The program, called Sundays on Telegraph, will continue for a trial period of six weeks and, if successful, will be extended for 10 weeks until Sept. 22.
“The vendors should be elated because more people are going to come,” said Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates. “It’s going to be lively — there’s going to be lots of entertainment. We’re just hoping to showcase Telegraph and make it a place where people want to come to on a nice Sunday afternoon.”
The program will be funded by the city of Berkeley and the Telegraph Business Improvement District, said Janet Klein, who has been a Telegraph street vendor for 30 years and is coordinating the program with the mayor’s office.
“At first, the vendors were a little unsure about having it, because they thought they were going to be charged for a booth,” Klein said. “But then when they learned they weren’t going to be charged for it, they warmed up to the idea.”
The program will bring in musicians to play on the street and allow restaurants to set up seating outside. Music will include jazz, blues, Hawaiian, Indonesian gamelan and a variety of other international music, according to Klein.
Many vendors, shops and restaurants on Telegraph said they welcome the opportunity for more business during the summer. Pappy’s Grill & Sports Bar general manager Tempest Hoover said she agreed that the street closure will bring more business.
“It brings a lot more foot traffic, especially with all the students gone during the summer,” Hoover said. “The cars don’t really do much for us, because there are so few places to park, so foot traffic is more important for us.”
Louis Cuneo, who has been a Telegraph street vendor for 20 years, said he liked the program’s goal but called it a “quick fix” for stimulating business.
“I think it would help business — very much so — but the short-term solution of funding six Sundays in a row is not as good as the long-term (solution), which would be once a month,” Cuneo said.
Councilmember Kriss Worthington said he is pushing to make Telegraph street closures for all-day fairs a more regular occurrence.
“My hope is that after the six weeks, they will expand it and make it bigger and better,” Worthington said. “I think it’s good to do, (but) I just think we should do it more vigorously, with more happenings.”
Contact Yvonne Ng at [email protected].