Multiple local businesses were asked to close after Boston University hired a construction company to lay concrete outside of Noodle Street, an Asian noodle shop at 627 Commonwealth Ave.
Construction has been officially conducted for about a month, with plans to conclude within the next two weeks depending on the weather, BU spokesperson Colin Riley wrote in an email.
George Saleh, owner of Haute Coiffure Salon which is located just below Noodle Street, said the ongoing construction has impacted his salon.
“They said two weeks. It’s been two months,” Saleh said. “You can’t imagine how much it affects the business.”
Riley wrote in an email that BU Campus Planning and Operations are “rebuilding the exterior wall and stairs, while maintaining access to the building.”
Riley wrote the University “works with the contractors and businesses to coordinate the work, and inevitably there may be some disruptions that need to be accommodated in order to complete the work in a safe way.”
The project is being overseen by Ronald O’Brien, BU’s executive director of operations and trade services.
Sai Tanaurit, owner of Noodle Street, said she was asked to shut down her business for a few hours for concrete to be poured.
Tanaurit said it would be ideal if construction was conducted during different hours.
“They should choose a time, an off hour for everybody’s business, early in the morning or Sunday,” Tanaurit said.
Noodle Street has been trying to coordinate with BU, Tanaurit said.
BU, however, understands that the businesses are being disrupted.
“They have been extremely cooperative and patient during these repairs to the front entrance,” Riley wrote. “The work will not require that the businesses close.”
Emily Palmer, a junior in Sargent College, said that she and her friends practically live at Noodle Street.
The group of college students, Palmer, Alex Noor, a junior in the Faculty of Data Sciences and Jaya Patel, a junior in the Questrom School of Business, said they have been to Noodle Street numerous times, both pre and post-construction.
Since the construction started, Noor noticed that the restaurant seems “quieter.”
“It’s just more crowded … especially at this time,” Noor said.
Patel said it did not seem fair for the construction to affect a small business.
“I feel like it’s not [fair] because they’re already slowing business,” Patel said. “If it’s during peak hours, they would be losing a lot of business.”