An effort to draw patrons back after completion of garage is dropped after major donor withdraws financial support.
By: Jennifer Potash
A Spring Street block party, slated for Aug. 21, was canceled after a major donor withdrew financial support.
David Rosendorf, owner of the Frame Shoppe, said he and other Spring Street business owners planned the half-day Saturday block party to encourage patrons who had stayed away because of the downtown construction to come back.
The organizers secured permission from the Borough Council to close the street to vehicular traffic and planned activities including live music and food concession stands to be run by Princeton vendors, Mr. Rosendorf said.
Other activities for the block party, called "A Street of Good Taste," included a sidewalk mural created with chalk, a fashion show, a "haircut-athon" to raise money for charity and fitness demonstrations and chair massages.
But in late July a major donor, who Mr. Rosendorf declined to name, withdrew support, citing travel plans the day of the block part.
"(The donor) knew the dates from the beginning," Mr. Rosendorf said.
At that point, the organizers had no choice but to cancel the event.
"We really put our hearts into it," he said. "We had a jazz band coming and we had an ice sculpture."
To encourage merchants to participate in the event, Mr. Rosendorf said, the entry costs were kept low, at $150.
With less than a month before the event, the organizers could not find alternative funding, he said.
All may not be lost for reviving the block party idea later in the year.
Mr. Rosendorf said he was interested in Princeton Future’s "Shop Princeton" campaign, which highlights the downtown shops and restaurants during the month of October. Perhaps the block party could be included as part of that program, he said.