Downtown merchants raise issue with derby

A group of Downtown Waynesboro merchants will address Waynesboro City Council Tuesday night with their concerns about the future of the Blue Ridge Classic Soap Box Derby.

“While downtown is seeing positive change, several merchants are extremely concerned about the detrimental impact the derby will have on downtown businesses.  For some, the street closure will completely block off the ability to get to their businesses, and others will be affected just by the safety issue of people not being able to cross the street,” wrote Jennifer Ledford, the owner of Initial Inspirations, a Main Street business, and a member of the Promotions Committee of Waynesboro Downtown Development Inc., in an e-mail to downtown merchants today.

City Council will consider the request of the derby to close Main Street downtown on May 19, 2012.

The e-mail from Ledford suggests that the city could move the derby over from Main Street to 11th Street. The derby was run down 11th Street in its earlier incarnation in the 1950s and 1960s.