{"id":16196,"date":"2025-10-10T00:44:27","date_gmt":"2025-10-10T00:44:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/hotel-construction-impacts-residents-businesses-in-different-ways\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T03:55:07","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T03:55:07","slug":"hotel-construction-impacts-residents-businesses-in-different-ways","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/hotel-construction-impacts-residents-businesses-in-different-ways\/","title":{"rendered":"Hotel construction impacts residents, businesses in different ways"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Gazpacho
Gazpacho Restaurant is dwarfed by the dual-branded Lamont Cos. Hampton and Marriott hotel project across the street on East Second Avenue in Durango. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Gazpacho Restaurant is not alone in its frustration with a hotel construction project that has dragged on for six years in South Durango.<\/p>\n

Other businesses near the site say the construction has caused persistent noise, periodic street closures and reduced customer traffic.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt cost me probably 20% of my income over the last four years \u2013 between street stoppages and trucks parking there and noise,\u201d said George Hassan, owner of Southwest Book Traders.<\/p>\n

But not all businesses have been adversely impacted.<\/p>\n

Paige Denir of ReLove Consign and Design said business has remained steady during on-and-off construction, but she knows residents in the area are eager for the project to wrap up.<\/p>\n

Natalia Vaugn, who lives on the corner of Fifth Street and East Second Avenue, said her indoor cat escaped for 12 days, seemingly related to fear of the construction noise \u2013 which goes as late as midnight or 1 a.m. on some days, she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m over it. It\u2019s every day,\u201d Vaugn said. \u201c\u2026 I definitely feel like there\u2019s not a lot of respect for people who live around here.\u201d<\/p>\n

City spokesperson Tom Sluis said city code requires construction to take place between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m., and that any instances of construction occurring outside those hours is investigated and responded to by city code enforcement officers.<\/p>\n

The city is sensitive to the effects that large construction projects have on residents and businesses, Sluis said, and does its best to minimize those impacts when possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe hotel project in particular has been a challenge for many years, and it\u2019s understandable for residents to have some frustration when other projects are moving forward,\u201d Sluis said. \u201cWe have staff constantly involved in its progress and are always seeking ways to help it reach completion.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Construction
Construction efforts on the dual-branded AC Hotel by Marriott and Hampton Inn and Suites by Hilton development located on East Second Avenue in downtown Durango in June 2023. (Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald file)<\/span>cca<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Rob Hahn, president and co-owner of Family Craft Memorials, said he has faced challenges at times with street closures and construction vehicle loading, but it hasn\u2019t negatively affected business.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the city\u2019s done just fine,\u201d Hahn said. \u201cLoading stuff is tough, but they\u2019ve seemed to do all they can to keep it at a minimum.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hahn said the city did construction work on a concrete apron and added trees outside Family Craft Memorials in the past, which he appreciated. He called his perspective on the construction and the city\u2019s response \u201cprobably different from most around here.\u201d<\/p>\n

A manager at the Best Western Plus Rio Grande Inn, located on the south side of the construction zone, said guests dislike the construction, but that business at Best Western hasn\u2019t suffered as a result.<\/p>\n

\u201cSince we\u2019re the only Best Western, people stay with us because they\u2019re Best Western members,\u201d the manager said. \u201cWe\u2019ve been sold out all summer.\u201d<\/p>\n

epond@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Noise, street closures have been a steady drumbeat in South Durango <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":16197,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[431,28],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-16196","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-business-general","tag-headlines"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16196","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16196"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16196\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20067,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16196\/revisions\/20067"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16197"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16196"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16196"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16196"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=16196"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}