Businesses, delegates discuss disruption caused by NATO; one restaurant reports negative impact
The NATO Parliamentary Assembly wrapped up on Monday, and Dayton police began taking down the fencing and barricades downtown. Delegates and businesses are reflecting on the impacts of the extensive security measures.
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During the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, News Center 7 spoke to delegates from all over the world about visiting Dayton.
'We are very happy to know you and to see and to visit Dayton,' Ramona Bruynseels, of Romania, said.
Delegates like Bruynseels also talked about the impact the security measures had on the community in spots.
'I know that we also disrupted the activity of the entire city,' Bruynseels said.
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The NATO village was a roughly 16-square-block area of downtown Dayton, with restricted access and increased security.
News Center 7 talked to business owners outside and inside the perimeter who chose to close because of the challenges it created.
Due to that, News Center 7's John Bedell asked Congressman Mike Turner, one of the organizers of the event, what he has to say to Daytonians who had their lives or their businesses interrupted by security measures put in place for the event.
'Luckily for us, because it happens during Memorial [Day] weekend, we're able to have this in a way that's not disruptive to the community,' Turner said in response.
As shown on News Center 7 at 5:00, our team went into the community on Monday to ask similar questions about the impacts caused by the security measures.
'Probably, we're down about 25 percent over last year's Memorial Day weekend,' Kelly Byrd, general manager of the Spaghetti Warehouse in downtown Dayton, said.
Byrd said the NATO event was great for Dayton, but also noted he lost business this weekend.
'How have the closures and the security measures impacted you all this week in business?' Bedell asked.
'It impacted us kind of negatively, honestly,' Byrd responded. 'We were hoping for a positive effect, but I think it scared a lot of people away from downtown. They didn't want to deal with the closures and traffic patterns that were different.'
Byrd also told News Center 7 that he's hoping to get back to some normalcy now that the event is over.
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