PORT TOWNSEND — Marketing the city before, during and after the May-June Hood Canal Bridge construction closure is about to kick into high gear, with business owners preparing for the worst.
A roundtable discussion sponsored by The Leader weekly newspaper and the Port Townsend Main Street Program drew on Friday about 75 business owners who discussed ways to keep their businesses afloat while the floating Hood Canal Bridge’s eastern half is replaced in a $471 million state Department of Transportation project.
During the six-week closure of the bridge, some 15,000 to 20,000 drivers will have to find alternative routes between the Seattle area and the North Olympic Peninsula.
U.S. Highway 101 will be the only land route to the east side of Puget Sound. Passenger ferry service will be provided between South Point and Lofall.
Joe Finney, owner of the Bishop Victorian Hotel in Port Townsend, urged other business owners to prepare now.
“Inaction guarantees lost revenue,” Finney said.
Expects downturn
Finney figures that the effect of the impending May-June bridge-closure period could be worse than an annual January-February visitor downturn — with business down about 50 percent — and urged business owners to prepare by talking to their bankers.
He said he is working closely with his employees in marketing and effective communication to help offset the “shock” of bridge closure.
Finney plans a new Web page with a high-definition video introducing the hotel.
His online reservation system will be improved as well, he said, and he will upgrade the site’s visibility through search engines.
Kathleen Purdy, Small Business Development Center director, said Finney was a good example of planning, which she emphasized as the key to surviving the bridge closure.
She called for businesses to plan for two more slow months and come up with a contingency plan.
“Determine how much money you need to tie you over,” she said, and come up with plans for each marketing segment.
She urged business owners to define “local locals,” those who frequent a business, and “locals” who live in south Jefferson County that may go to Kitsap County to shop.
“Think of ways to encourage more visits, or more spending,” she said.
She also encouraged businesses to combine advertising for online strategies.
“People shop online. People like to shop online,” she said. “Why can’t they shop at your store online?”
Brian Coddington, senior account supervisor with Hill & Knowlton public relation consultants, based in Spokane, said that his company intends to increase Port Townsend’s visibility during the bridge closure.
The company was contracted by the city of Port Townsend through the Lodging Tax Advisory Committee to market Port Townsend during the closure and afterward.
Hill & Knowlton will focus largely on delivering the message to Interstate 5 corridor media that Port Townsend is always open and “not that far away,” even when the bridge is closed.
Main Street campaign
Mari Mullen, Port Townsend Main Street Program director, said that the State Tourism Commission and the state Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development have awarded Main Street a $15,000 grant that must be matched by Port Townsend businesses and sponsors to begin a marketing campaign in January.
The campaign — “Meet Me in Port Townsend” — is intended to draw visitors to Port Townsend before, during and after the bridge closure.
Regional and local prints and online ads will connect customers to a Web site “richly illustrated with photographs and videoclips of local business owners.
“It will be tied in with a radio campaign, inviting Seattle/Interstate 5 corridor visitors back after the bridge reopens,” she said.
Direct mail pieces will target Canada, Whidbey Island and Olympic Peninsula neighbors, she said.
The marketing effort will include assistance in starting up small-business Web sites.
Christina Pivarnik, Jefferson County marketer and public relations businesswoman, has been contracted as the city’s marketing manager.
Six weeks or less
Kathleen Becker, a Department of Transportation spokeswoman for the project, said DOT’s contractor, Kiewit-General, would make every effort to complete the project in six weeks, replacing the bridge’s eastern half connecting to Kitsap County.
“Hopefully, we’ll get it done in five weeks, but we’re prepared for six,” she said.
Parking lots — one nearing completion at Fred Hill Material’s Shine Pit, and another already complete at Port Gamble — will provide 1,500 parking spots.
A passenger ferry service will run between South Point on the Jefferson County side and Lofall on the Kitsap side, with Jefferson and Kitsap Transit buses both operating.
Cost for all public transportation, by land or canal, will be free during the bridge closure.
Riders will be able to take the bus from Port Townsend to Shine, then take a shuttle to South Point, then travel by ferry to Lofall and have free bus service all the way to Bainbridge Island and Seattle. Riders will have to pay the ferry fare back from Seattle to Bainbridge.
A special free medical bus will carry those needing dialysis, chemotherapy or other medical attention to Seattle, Becker said.
Those who drive down U.S. Highway 101 instead of taking public transportation will find traffic control will be stepped up at Hoodsport on 101 and at Gorst on state highways 3 and 16, she said.
She said pets will be allowed on public transportation, so long as each is on a leash.
Dan Youra, a longtime Jefferson County travel publisher, said that when the bridge sank in 1979, it took two years to get traffic back after it reopened 3¬½ years later.
Consequently, he said, it is good to continue marketing efforts long after the bridge reopens.
He said trips went from an average of more than 6,000 a day before the 1979 mishap. Average trips per day increased to 17,000 in 1999, but have since fallen off to an average of about 16,000 a day.
“We are losing traffic at about 30,000 vehicles a month for about a year,” he said.
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Port Townsend-Jefferson County Editor Jeff Chew can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at jeff.chew@peninsuladailynews.com.
