"We make more in November and December than we do the rest of the year." Suzanne Sereff, who has owned the Warm Hugs gift shop downtown for nearly two decades, said that to the Greeley Tribune in late October. Her shop sits at 809 10th St., on the same block where crews have been laying new water and sewer lines since the fall.
Construction will be part of downtown Greeley for a while. Holiday shopping is the part of the year the city tried to keep clear of it. The schedule bent around retailers' busiest weeks, and the city and Downtown Development Authority made a free bingo card that leads you through the blocks that are still open.
The dig was scheduled around the shops' best weeks
The work is part of the Downtown Civic Campus. Weld County is building a new justice center downtown, and it's partnering with the city and Greeley-Evans District 6 on a new City Hall and a District 6 administration building. According to the Tribune, the county did not want to put $300 million to $400 million into a new building before the water, sewer and stormwater lines under it were replaced. So that underground work was moved up ahead of any vertical construction.
The timing came from the people who run the storefronts. "Some of the feedback that was found and clear from some of our retailers was, 'Please, please, please avoid November and December,'" DDA Executive Director Bianca Fisher told the Tribune. Pablo Guzman, who owns the Midnight Oil bookstore, told the paper the city asked businesses which months were slowest before choosing when to start. "September and January are going to be the slowest months for retail generally," he said.
Work started in early September on 7th Avenue near the Greeley Area Chamber of Commerce. It moved north to 10th Street and then west past 8th Avenue, and it will keep moving west and north while staying east of 11th Avenue. One milestone came before the holidays. On October 20, the 8th Avenue and 10th Street intersection reopened to southbound traffic, according to the city's downtown infrastructure project page. Work is still going on in other spots. On October 30, the city reported crews setting rebar for a new underground stormwater box culvert at 9th Avenue and 12th Street. The culvert will be 5 feet tall and 12 feet wide, and it's being built in place inside the excavation. Detours change as the work moves, and the city posts current traffic and access updates on that page.
How far along the pipes are
The Tribune printed footage as of Friday, October 23, which shows how early in the project this holiday season falls.
| Line | Completed | Remaining | Share done |
|---|---|---|---|
| Water line | 1,070 feet | 7,409 feet | About 13% |
| Sewer line | 2,215 feet | 1,238 feet | About 64% |
The sewer work is nearly two-thirds done, and the water line is about one-eighth done. Once both are finished, the Tribune reports, crews will close the area again, probably for longer, to install storm pipe and box culverts under the street. The project has no public timeline yet. The current estimate is at least into 2028, and probably longer. So this is the first holiday season of the project, and at least one more will come before the streets are finished.
"It seems that people don't really think that businesses are open, even though it says business access," Corri Mehan, owner of Downtown Oddity Parlor at 906 9th Ave., told the Tribune. The bingo card was made for that problem.
Bingo on the Blocks turns "business access" into a route
The City of Greeley and the DDA started Bingo on the Blocks as a free holiday campaign. It runs from November 1, 2026, through January 1, 2027, and you don't have to buy anything. You can download the board or pick one up at any participating business. Each square names a business and its address, and you ask for a stamp or signature when you visit.
Rewards are Downtown Greeley gift cards:
- One completed line: $15
- Two completed lines: $30
- Full blackout: $50
Each person can redeem once, for their highest tier, so if you're close to a second line it's worth finishing before you submit. To redeem, email a selfie holding the completed card and a clear photo of the back to the address on the DDA's event page by January 1, 2027. Cards are reviewed on Fridays and approved gift cards go out by email on Mondays. Participants must be 16 or older, and gift cards are handed out first come, first served while funds last.
A walking order that fills the card
The card has 25 stops, and they sit close together. Three of them share one address. Grouping them by block lets one parking session cover a lot of squares.
- 9th Street, between 8th and 9th avenues. 802 9th St. has three squares under one roof: MOXI Theater, Spotlight Cafe & Creamery, and Stella's Pinball Arcade & Lounge. The Cow Saloon & Eatery is at 800 9th St., and Makers Mercantile & Studio is at 824 9th St., Suite A.
- The 900 block of 9th Avenue. Mom's Popcorn at 900, Downtown Oddity Parlor at 906, VALE Cold Pressed Juice at 910, Alkynes of Vines at 916, Ellie's Corner Pie Shop and Bakery at 920, and Rise & Pies Pies & Pastries at 940. Yetter's Brewing Company is a block south at 1011 9th Ave.
- 8th Street. The Nerd Store & Nerd Store Toys at 805 and 807, Mystic Willow Boutique at 805, Suite 200, and the Greeley History Museum at 714.
- 8th Avenue, north end. Aunt Helen's Coffee House at 800, Suite 101; Accessories with a Flair! and Hair at 801, Suite 4; Edison's Ice Cream at 911; and Roasty's Diner & The Bakery at 918 and 920.
- 10th Street, in the work zone. Warm Hugs Mixes & Gifts at 809, Downtown Sound Records & Tapes at 819, Unit C, and Midnight Oil Bookstore at 827. These three are the stops closest to the current construction.
- 8th Avenue, south end. Nifty Thriftyz at 1008, Austin's American Grill at 1100, Suite 100, and La Tarahumara at 1101 are good places to finish with a meal.
The 10th Street stops have the most at stake this season. Midnight Oil sits in the middle of the current work, and the Tribune reported that October was the first month in years of steady growth when its sales dropped noticeably. Warm Hugs is running its own promotion on top of the bingo card. Anyone who spends more than $40 is entered in a weekly drawing for a $100 gift card, with a $500 drawing at the end of the month. Hours vary from shop to shop, and the city suggests checking them before you go.
The dates that put you downtown anyway
Several events are already on the calendar downtown, and each is a chance to pick up a few more stamps.
- Friday, November 20: Mannheim Steamroller Christmas, 7:30 p.m., at the Union Colony Civic Center, 701 10th Ave. Tickets are listed at $48 to $99.
- Saturday, November 21: Festival of Trees at the Union Colony Civic Center, 1 p.m., per the city's events calendar.
- Friday, November 27: Skate Your Turkey Off at Greeley Ice Haus, 900 8th Ave., noon to 2:30 p.m. The $15 admission includes skate rental. The rink is around the corner from Edison's Ice Cream and Roasty's.
- Saturdays, November 28 through December 12: WinterFest at Lincoln Park and 9th Street. It opens with the Holiday Open House on Shop Small Saturday and includes the Light Up Lincoln tree lighting, Holiday Lane displays, Makers' Workshops, carriage rides, live music, crafts and a North Pole Mailbox for letters to Santa. Visit Greeley lists the event as free.
The three WinterFest Saturdays are November 28, December 5 and December 12. Lincoln Park sits right next to the 9th Avenue and 9th Street squares, so a WinterFest afternoon can cover close to half the card.
Weekend visits also make parking easy. Downtown Greeley has more than 2,000 free two-hour spaces. Parking is free after 5 p.m. on weekdays, all weekend and on City holidays. The lots at 902 7th Ave., at the Chamber, and 606 10th St., east of the Colorado Model Railroad Museum, are free all day. On a weekday visit longer than two hours, the Passport app charges $2 per additional hour, capped at $10 a day, according to the DDA's parking page. Because construction keeps shifting routes, the city points visitors to the project page for current parking and access.
The cards are due January 1, 2027. The last WinterFest Saturday is December 12.
At NOCO Luxury Estates, Lani Carwin and Gus Bergs keep a close eye on how projects like the Downtown Civic Campus are changing the blocks around them, from new public buildings to the streets being rebuilt underneath. If you'd like to know how downtown's next few years could affect your corner of Greeley, we're happy to talk it through. Contact Us.
