By Gretchen Webster
WESTPORT — This summer season of music on Church Lane is almost over, but a crowd drawn to the pedestrian mall Friday night enjoyed dining and listening to the Breakers, a high school band from Weston.
Children danced in the street and diners were seated at outdoor tables in front of restaurants, as music filled the cool air two nights before the official start of autumn.
The Music on Church Lane series, which concludes next weekend, has been sponsored by the Westport Downtown Association on Friday and Saturday evenings since June.
“We come every Friday night,” said Jen Gianetta of Westport, who was there with Bennett, 5 and Cameran, 3. “We love it.”
Another Westport resident, Cameron Braun, joked that he, his wife and children “come all the time — probably 250 times.”
Diners at the Spotted Horse restaurant filled all of its streetside tables throughout the night. “The outside is always busy in summer, and the inside is packed in winter,” according to hostess Amya Torres.
Merchants on Church Lane say turning the street into a pedestrian mall during the summer is great for business, but business owners in other parts of downtown say closing off the street not only eliminates precious parking spaces, but has an adverse impact on traffic flow.
However, Church Lane diners and spectators Friday night were clearly happy the street was closed and that music was in the air.
Although the music program will end next weekend, under a plan approved by the Board of Selectwomen in March, the street is expected to remain closed to traffic until Nov. 2.
And until then, there are sure to be people enjoying the atmosphere.
“It’s such a beautiful night,” said Eric Bernheim as he watched the band.
The Music on Church Lane Series is scheduled to continue 6-9 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 21; Friday Sept. 27, and Saturday Sept. 28.
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Freelance writer Gretchen Webster, a Fairfield County journalist for many years, was editor of the Fairfield Minuteman and has taught journalism at New York and Southern Connecticut State universities.
Maybe.. it causes such traffic in town.
Hardly a good thing for 90%
What an amazing way to build community and bring people to our downtown.The summer ‘pedestrian walkway’ and live music undoubtedly benefits all business owners from Parker Harding to Main Street to Sconset.
Closing Church Lane to through traffic – and eliminating all those parking spaces (including handicap spaces) unfortunately comes at a cost: accessibility and congestion. The honking horns typically start between 2 and 3 in the afternoon as traffic backs up on Myrtle Avenue. When Church Lane reopens in November, everything (mostly) goes back to normal.