KHSAA tournament bringing business downtown
Businesses welcome the crowds after the pandemic.
LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) – The first day of the KHSAA Sweet Sixteen girls basketball tournament bringing in large crowds to downtown Lexington at Rupp Arena. After a two-year hiatus because of the pandemic the tournament kicked off Wednesday morning and downtown businesses are thrilled to welcome in new business and out-of-town-guests.
COVID-19 hit small businesses hard.
“We were impacted greatly at first, to be transparent with you,” says Cameron Jones, LexLive director of marketing and sales. “We weren’t able to have groups larger than 10 kind of congregate.”
As an entertainment venue, not being able to accommodate large groups for most of the first year of business was hard for LexLive. But with restrictions relaxing, it’s looking forward to the families who will enjoy the space during the tournament.
“This is kind of our first experience with this type of demand,” says Jones. “I would tend to think that we would be a full house, you know, definitely shoulder to shoulder in here.”
Restaurants like Corto Lima also expecting to be packed out for the next couple of weeks.
“We are excited to have the tourism back, we’re excited to have all of these teams and families back in Lexington with us and we know we can give them a wonderful experience,” says Brie Cox, Corto Lima director of marketing and events.
With some pandemic protocols still in place at the restaurant, like curbside ordering and walk-ins only, the goal is simply to bring guests in from right off the street.
“Really, truly it’s just a hidden gem right in the center of downtown Lexington,” says Cox.
For students like PJ Marshall from Franklin County, being back in Lexington is more than just about the basketball tournament itself.
“It’s good to finally get the full high school experience, especially in person,” says Marshall. “Finally being able to be not social distanced, not with masks and everything.”
As the girls tournament carries on through Saturday, the KHSAA boys basketball tournament is set to tip off March 15th.
