CLARKSVILLE, Ind. — Yellow caution tape and orange barricades have surrounded the Widows Walk Ice Creamery in Clarksville for several months.
"I mean it's tough, it's tough to keep your head above water," owner Jill Dodson said.
The ice cream shop's foot traffic has been affected since the town's Riverside Drive Reconstruction Project began in February.
"Once [potential customers] get down there and see that construction, it's horrendous," Dodson said. She said normally her business sees roughly 10,000 customers during peak season, which is June through August. The construction has hurt those numbers as customers thinking they can't get to the shop.
Luckily, the business has been saved with the help of a loan from One Southern Indiana.
"I mean it has really helped when a small business like mine drops all of a sudden so is 50% of their revenue," Dodson said. "I had no idea those funds were there and it really came at a time where I needed."
Officials said the majority of the construction project won't be completed until the fall. One Southern Indiana noticed they were one of the businesses affected by the project.
"We started working with the Widow's Walk Ice Creamery when they started undergoing the riverwalk revitalization project," said Rachael Armstrong, small business navigator at One Southern Indiana.
Armstrong said it's an emergency program that isn't available to everyone and it's a spinoff of it's One Fund.
"We first observed it on social media, we saw that the Widows Walk was having trouble with their customers because there were accessibility issues with construction," she added.
That's when she and her team reached out to the Town of Clarksville for partnership. It's a feeling of relief for Dodson who has one message for her customers.
"Please continue to come see me, this loan was great but I still need my customers," Dodson said.
After a temporary closure, the Widows Walk plans to re-open Thursday with special hours between 2 p.m. and 9 p.m.
Make it easy to keep up-to-date with more stories like this. Download the WHAS11 News app now. For Apple or Android users.
Have a news tip? Email assign@whas11.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter feed.