Monday, May 10, 1999
The University Daily Kansan
Section B·Page 5
Lawrence businesses expect increased traffic while graduates' relatives and friends are in town. Hobbs, 700 Massachusetts St., is one of the stores preparing for the commencement crowd. Photo by Tara Bradley/KANSAN.
Lawrence businesses gearing up for graduation weekend visitors
By Chad Hale
Special to the Kansan
The Campanile won't be surrounded by the usual students studying or people walking their dogs on May 23.
Thousands of families and friends will be in Lawrence for the commencement ceremonies that day.
Visitors will need a place to stay, restaurant recommendations and things to keep them busy that weekend.
And that is something the businesses of Lawrence look forward to helping visitors with.
"We generally say that about 10,000 to 15,000 people come into town for commencement," said Jennifer Carter, marketing associate for the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce. "They usually stay all weekend, so that means we have people Friday, Saturday and all day Sunday eating at our restaurants and shopping downtown in all of our stores. It has a very good
economic impact for the Lawrence community."
During commencement weekend,
rooms and lodging can be very difficult to find in Lawrence. In fact,
every hotel room was booked months ago with additional room
and cost requirements.
"We have a pretty long waiting list of mostly parents, grandparents and other family members," said Ginger Ray, front desk manager of the Eldridge Hotel. "We require a three-day minimum stay, higher rates and a cancellation policy of no less than 30 days."
Carter said that there were about 1,200 hotel rooms in Lawrence and that the people visiting during commencement weekend filled all those rooms about eight months ago.
This means that many relatives of graduates will have no place to stay and will go to the nearby cities of Topeka and Kansas City for lodging.
In addition, restaurants also can expect a large increase in business
during that weekend.
"We expect to have a lot of large groups in Sunday," said Jim Dallen, general manager of Mass Street Deli, 941 Massachusetts St. "The big trick is to get the customers in and out very quickly, because everyone is in a hurry to get to graduation."
For visitors looking for activities in Lawrence, the Lawrence Visitors Center has many suggestions.
During graduation weekend alone, more than 400 people sign the guest book at the center, located at 402 N. 2nd St. In order to accommodate this large crowd of people, more staff, town maps and informational guides will have to be brought in.
"People come to the Visitors Center looking for information on downtown, museums and the history of the city," said Debby White of the Lawrence Visitors Center. "We do as much as we can to make their stay in Lawrence as enjoyable as possible. We even give tours of the Lawrence community."
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