Almost a month after the first Hillsborough Renaissance, patrons may expect vendors to be enthusiastically championing the Hillsborough Street renovations the City of Raleigh is planning to begin.

But according to Pearl Cafe co-owner Nathan Phillips, the city has been dragging its feet for far too long.

“They’ve been talking about it for eight years,” Phillips said. “They were supposed to start last May, now they’re thinking of postponing this year’s May start time.”

Student Senate President Kelli Rogers said the revitalization of Hillsborough Street was an issue when she was a freshman and looks to still be an issue going into her senior year.

“When I was a freshman, they had set the date for it to begin that summer,” Rogers said. “That was 2007, and we’re going into the summer of 2009.”

Rogers said she hoped to experience the new look Hillsborough Street throughout her undergraduate career, but won’t be on campus for its completion.

“I was looking forward to seeing the new Hillsborough Street before I graduated,” Rogers said. “Now, because of whatever reasons, it’s something I’m working onto leave as a legacy for future students.”

Rogers said the completion of the Hillsborough Street project will be the realization of a long-term initiative to engulf the area as part of campus.

“Right now Hillsborough Street is viewed as a border to campus,” Rogers said. “I would really like it to be viewed as a part of the N.C. State community.

Still, Phillips’ frustration with the slow process of getting the renovations started is also fed by the changes to the plans and renderings for the street, which he still isn’t sure of.

“I don’t know what it looks like,” Phillips said of the latest plans for the street. “Meetings don’t do any good when they tell you things are set into place, but they’re not.”

Phillips is also wary of the construction process itself since it’s taking so long to get started.

“I fear when people can’t get to my door,” Phillips said. “I’m worried the things that keep them from starting will keep them from finishing.”

Phillips said, on top of the prospect of construction blocking foot traffic to his restaurant, the economic crisis has already crippled his revenues and could lead to more issues if the renovations don’t begin soon.

“I don’t know if I can afford to make it through this process,” Phillips said. “I don’t know if we’ll survive long enough for the reconstruction to help us.”

Student Body President Jim Ceresnak hopes the realization of some of his campaign promises will help keep Hillsborough Street businesses afloat in the short term, and to solidify the street’s relationship with the University. Ceresnak wants to combine All-Campus, Board Bucks and Wolf Copy cards into one, all-inclusive card for students to carry, and to have the card act as a discount card of sorts at Hillsborough Street businesses.

“When students come back from summer break hopefully they will not only have a consolidated All-Campus card but they’ll also have incentives to go to Hillsborough Street businesses,” Ceresnak said. “It’ll be a system where businesses can promote students and students have an incentive to patronize those businesses.”

Ceresnak doesn’t want his initiative to act only as a way to get businesses through hard economic times, though, as he aims to have it change the relationship between students and area businesses.

“It’s a tangible thing that will benefit both students and businesses,” he said. “I hope it can be more than a bandage for ailing businesses, though. I hope it can be a lasting program.”

Ceresnak did admit that working with construction timetables was a difficult process, but said his project is already in progress.

“Working with construction and such will be a difficult process,” Ceresnak said. “But I’m talking this week with a point person from the Raleigh Chamber of Commerce who we can work with those businesses through.”

Ceresnak said he sees enhancing student opportunities as one of the duties of SG.

“One of the things we have the capacity to do is to extend services that students will enjoy,” Ceresnak said. “And make student’s lives easier, and that’s what I intend to focus on.”

Rogers said it’s important for students to push the Hillsborough Street issue so the street can experience change in the new future.

“It’s a huge part of our student life and we need to give back to that community and show it plays a huge part of campus life in order for the city council to recognize it is important,” Rogers said. “If students could rally for a new Hillsborough Street, the renovation could happen sooner.”

Beyond saying students had an opportunity to affect the progress of the project, Rogers said she’ll continue to advocate for changes, despite not being able to see the finished product as an undergraduate.

“It’s not something I’m going to directly benefit from,” Rogers said. “But it’s still something I’m going to fight for so future students can benefit from it.”