FORT WORTH, Texas — Business owners, city leaders, and customers celebrated the reopening of a block of downtown Fort Worth with an event called the Un-Block Party, after it had been shut down by the explosion at the Sandman Hotel in January.
For two hours Thursday afternoon, small business entrepreneurs welcomed dozens with open arms, and traffic they had not seen go by in months.
The folks at Fort Worth Downtown, Inc. teamed up with the city of Fort Worth for the event. This comes after months of barricades in the 200 block of 8th Street in downtown Fort Worth blocking vehicular traffic.
The Un-Block Party means the world to David Dalton's Salon owner Angeliki Farquhar. She's been in business on 8th Street for 15 years. She never dreamed that a downtown explosion could impact her salon.
"I wasn't going to let anything like that run me off. It's just part of owning a business. It's just part of the struggles. It was an accident. I mean, people got hurt," Farquhar said. "I thought the hours of 12 to 2 wouldn't give enough time for a bunch of people to get out. But it's wonderful."
People like David Johnson are regular downtown visitors who try to support small business owners. He is one of dozens who attended the Un-Block Party to get a close-up look at 8th Street.
"I'm just missing this area of the block coming down this area," said David Johnson, "There's an ice cream shop and there's a couple of businesses that I come to."
Kaylee Pratt from Fort Worth Downtown, Inc. worked with a local balloon expert to design custom balloon statues for the 8th Street businesses. Decor Specialist Rosie Ramon from the company Today's Balloons put together balloons tied together to depict scissors, a barber's pole, and a giant ice cream cone.
"It is very important that we celebrate this now and today, but also that we support these businesses tomorrow and a week from now and six months from now and continue to do that," Kaylee Pratt said.
On Jan. 8, 2024, an explosion happened inside the Sandman Hotel. The aftermath kept 8th Street blocked for months. The blast injured 21 people, ripped a hole through the historic building, and triggered an OSHA investigation.
The Fort Worth Fire Department continues investigating, although federal investigators said a gas explosion caused the injuries.
Today, the Sandman Hotel remains boarded up and once again there is vehicle traffic back on the 200 block of 8th Street. That's also where Tim Ballard owns and operates Cowtown Segway Adventures. He's never fully shut down for an extended period but for weeks customers could not get to his business. The sidewalk was closed for weeks at one point too.
"We're open for business and we're excited about having everybody out here," said Ballard, "Free ice cream, free Segway rides, getting everybody back in the norm of using this street again."