Beth Adkins opened the French Quarters salon on Patten Parkway in the 1980s, and she has seen a lot change from her downtown spot between Lindsay Street and Georgia Avenue. But nothing could have prepared her for the combination of two years of construction at her doorstep and a pandemic, she said.
“The challenges we faced were off the charts, but we faced them and we grew from them,” Adkins said. “There were times I considered leaving. I even bought property on the other side of town.”
Adkins stayed put, though, and on Friday morning she watched the grand opening of the completely overhauled – and renamed – Patten Square from the doorway of her salon.
“It is wonderful to be here now,” she said. “The parking is much more accessible. The meters are more up to date – they take credit cards. It’s handicapped accessible,” Adkins said.
Construction on the new Patten Square design began in August 2019, and was expected to take a year, but several factors doubled the timeline, including unexpected work that had to be done to shore up the buildings’ foundations on the north side of the parkway before sidewalk pavers could be installed.