The North Judson Mint Festival is set to get underway this evening, in spite of an unsafe building on Lane Street. “We knew that this was a possibility and so we had a plan B and we’re working with plan B and it’s going fine,” says Mint Festival President Donna Henry.
The structure at 205 and 207 Lane Street is believed to be in danger of collapse. Part of it already fell in on itself last month. Town officials had hoped to have it torn down before the Mint Festival begins, but the town council last week rejected the only demolition quote.
However, Henry says the town has taken steps to keep festival-goers safe this weekend. “The town has put up temporary fencing around it, so that it’s completely blocked off,” she says. “The festival-goers will still be able to walk along the one sidewalk along that area, but it’ll be protected from the building.”
Henry says some of the festival’s vendors will be relocated, as a result. “We’re going to start our vendor spots at that second half of that block of Lane Street,” she explains. “Our vendor committee has worked really hard to make sure that we have enough space for all of our vendors, and as far as I know, all of our spaces are filled. They have done a great job, and I want to thank Paige and Bob [Barnett] for that.”
Henry reminds visitors that pets, bicycles, and unauthorized golf carts will not be allowed into the Mint Festival. Otherwise, she says organizers are looking forward to a successful event. “We have some new attractions this year, and we have some enhancements for our 5K run,” she says. “We have some new and different bands for our music arena. We are just looking forward to a great Mint Festival weekend, and we are praying that Mother Nature cooperates.”
The North Judson Mint Festival gets underway this evening at 5:00 p.m., with an opening ceremony at Norwayne Field. The festival continues through Sunday.
