Crime and construction on National Avenue causing business owner to camp out in store
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- The recent crime on National Avenue, and the lack of lighting, is causing business owners to worry about their livelihood. So much so, that one owner says she is camping out to protect her business.
"I'm not trying to live here, I’m just honestly concerned about what’s going on," said Abbey Schwartz, the owner of Orchestr8ed Chaos Artistry.
Schwartz has run her business on National Avenue for four years, and now safety and crime concerns from the ongoing construction are forcing her to call it her second home.
"Until the construction gets to a better state of progress, I don’t really feel safe going home and being secure in my house," said Schwartz.
With multiple break-ins on the stretch and even a porta potty explosion all in July, Schwartz says she's been camping out at her business for a month now to protect her livelihood.
"I've been camping out at my business, and the reason for that is because I can't afford the insurance premium that will come from any damage that might happen to my business," said Schwartz.
Business owners say streetlights out along National and S. 38th St. are causing big problems.
West Milwaukee Village Board President John Stalewski says the outage on S. 38th St. is due to crime itself.
"An individual unknown went into two of the access points between 38th St. and 39th St. on National Ave. and removed about 250 feet of cabling, basically a theft," said Schwartz. "It hasn't been proven, but that’s the direction we are leaning."
JoCasta Zamarripa, the alder for the district, says she is working to have more Milwaukee police crews surveilling the area and looking for additional safety measures to implement moving forward.
"We are scheduling a walk with the Milwaukee Police Department, and the contractor, WisDOT and DPW, to kind of look at the construction site and how we can make sure to keep it as safe as possible for our constituents, for the construction workers, for the commuters that are still trying to use National Avenue," said Ald. Zamarripa.
Owners on the stretch say they are already struggling with keeping their businesses afloat and these additional issues are not making it easy.
As for the lights on 38th St., officials say they are expected to be fixed by Friday.