Hoosierfest

It's been the story of the summer, an inconvenience to pedestrians and motorists, a bone of contention between local merchants and city government and an eyesore in the heart of Bloomington. It's the construction that closed Kirkwood Avenue earlier this summer.\nBut Saturday night saw a new side of Kirkwood, and for the first time in a long while, people filled the street. Some stopped into local shops such as Smoothie King and Tracks. Some sipped ale in the beer garden, and most gathered around the stage at Grant Street and enjoyed the performances of musical groups Cracker, Karl Denson and others.\nBy all accounts, Hoosierfest was a success.\n"It wakes up the whole street again," said Suzanne Phillips, co-director of the festival and assistant dean of students, as she gestured to the crowd gathered to buy beer tokens. "This is really great."\nFor returning students, the festival was a chance to appreciate the improvements made to Kirkwood and to reacclimate themselves to the downtown area. For community members, it was a celebration of the re-opening of one of the main drags of Bloomington, and the return of students after the quieter summer months.\n"It's really a nice melding of the community and the students," said Philisha Nobis, a Hoosierfest volunteer. \nScott Boutwell, the manager of Smoothie King, agreed. \n"I was really surprised to see a lot of kids, a lot of families," he said. "We even gave out small smoothies for the kids."\nHoosierfest offered various family activities during the day, before turning to the college crowd at night. \n"It was mostly families and community members during daylight hours," Phillips said. "The night crowd is more college kids and adults who left the kids at home."\nSaturday's weather was ominous with several small rain showers blowing through in the afternoon, but once the rain stopped, the Hoosierfest-goers returned.\n"We had to open up an extra gate for people to come in," Nobis said. "We had a nice turnout, considering the weather."\nPhillips agreed. "It's hard to tell, since I don't have any numbers. People-wise, I'd say it's about the same, maybe down a little. It's a hot, humid evening."\nBut the exposure Hoosierfest gave the Kirkwood businesses was invaluable. \n"We (Smoothie King) have been here for eight weeks," Boutwell said. "Business was slow at first because of the construction. But for the last two weeks, business has went really well." \nBoutwell was taking advantage of the Hoosierfest crowd by giving customers a quick run-down of the Smoothie King menu and setting them up with discout cards and coupons. \n"The construction's been a headache for everyone," said Bloomington police officer Randy Gehlhausen, who was keeping an eye on the partiers. "But I definitely know that the Bloomington City Council has bent over backwards to make these major improvements."\nThese improvements will be appreciated by businesses, community members and students alike.\n"It's a nice end to a quiet summer," Phillips said.