GENEVA, Ohio — Formality Bridal is the life's work of owner Penny Bowers-Schebal.
She's owned the business for almost nine years and has been located in an old church in Geneva for the last four years. It hasn't been the ideal location for the last two years due to ongoing construction.
"There is construction," Bowers-Schebal said. "And then whatever is happening outside of these doors."
The project started almost 20 months ago in front of her shop along U.S. 20. Crews set up orange cones to create a one-way street while removing old railcar tracks and fixing storm sewers. Bowers-Schebal said the crews have left her a mess to navigate on her own.
"It's been really difficult to forecast or plan a business that was in a double-digit increase until this project started," she said. "How do I know that it is not us? Because I have another store that is doing extremely well."
Bowers-Schebal said she's received very little communication from the city about the project. When she receives information, it comes from a construction company with only a day's notice that her business's entrance will be blocked.
"I have had brides walk across the street through an active construction zone," she said. "When brides can't park, sometimes they end up at a random parking lot."
Getting to the bridal shop is another issue. I timed the drive to navigate the construction. I found one detour sign for the project, but there wasn't a clear direction to guide drivers to the affected area. After multiple turnarounds and reroutes, I found it took about 29 minutes to reach Formality Bridal from town.
"We frequently get brides that will call in and say, 'I can't get to you,'" Bowers-Schebal said. "I don't have any way to tell them because it is a constantly changing detour without adequate and appropriate signage."
News 5 reached out to the City of Geneva and received a call from the city's lawyer, Gary L. Pasqualone.
In that call, Pasqualone said the city is aware of Bowers-Schebal's concerns. While she has been inconvenienced during the $10 million project, she has not been denied access to her business.
The city hopes to open the street to two-way traffic by the end of this week.
But, Bowers-Schebal said that is not enough.
"It is on the city to have managed this process to have reached out to have really done something for a process that has impacted a small business in such a negative way for 20 months," she said.
