Downtown restaurant owner frustrated with construction projects after reopening
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- A downtown Colorado Springs business owner is begging for a break after another construction project has prevented him from making money.
Taste of Jerusalem Cafe owner Adbul Nasser says an upgrade to gas lines on Bijou Street caused him to lose gas, thereby losing orders he could no longer fulfill.
"My day was ruined. I just closed the business and went home because I couldn't stay here," Nasser said.
He was closed through the pandemic, and for the two years before that when construction on a new Hilton hotel made it difficult for customers to get to him.
"It's just been so much, one after another," he said.
On Wednesday, a Colorado Springs Utilities crew was upgrading the gas line from 1 3/4 inch line to a 4 line when someone accidentally bypassed the wrong meter, causing the gas in Nasser's cafe to go out.
Natalie Watts with Colorado Springs Utilities told KRDO the gas out for about 30 minutes.
Nasser says he was also frustrated with trucks taking up space outside his store-front.
"We got excited and happy to get our street back and open, no construction nothing, but that didn't last long," he said in a Facebook video.
Watts explained that the project is now complete. A crew is expected to be out on Friday morning to repave the road and have the construction mess out of Nasser's way by the afternoon.
