Editor's Note: An earlier version of this story contained an incorrect date of the water main break.

For Downtown Lititz, a recent water main break wasn’t a disaster. Instead, it turned into an artistic opportunity. 

Lititz Borough Police reported a water main break on the first block of East Main Street July 12. The Lititz Borough Public Works have since repaired the damaged section of the water main and restored municipal water services. The borough’s temporary boil water advisory was lifted Monday morning. 

But, a section of Main Street will remain closed into the next week until PennDOT completes repairs. While the street is closed, the sidewalks are open to pedestrians. Downtown street parking is also free while the section is closed, the Lititz Borough Police announced Monday.

For Jenni Leister of Bunyaad Marketplace, the closed section of Main Street seemed like the perfect opportunity to get people downtown, as the sidewalks– and many of the street’s business– were just as open as they were before. 

bunyaad hopscotch

Bunyaad employees Jennie Leister, Gil Melo and Maggie Marx's giant hop-scotch game in front of their East Main Street storefront on Tuesday. 

“Yes, it's a water main break, but it's a big open street. This is not anything to be negative about,” Leister said. “This is something to celebrate– that we don't have traffic coming down through.”

With fellow Bunyaad employees Gil Melo and Maggie Marx, Liester used chalk to cover the road with a giant game of hopscotch. The game stretched down the entire closed section of the street, with a final space for players to “twirl in and shop fair trade.” 

Soon after, Venture Lititz posted to the Downtown Lititz Community Facebook page Monday night asking members to come “chalk the walk.” Locals showed up, taking to the empty street to draw anything from baseball fields to Mickey Mouse.

“I did my best to capture the spirit of the event,” said Lititz photographer Tom Roe, who shared photos of the event on Facebook Monday morning. “It’s important we support strong main streets and a strong downtown.” 

While Tuesday night storms may have affected some of the chalk art, community members will have another opportunity to add chalk to the block. 

Venture Lititz will host another “Chalk the Walk” Thursday evening, coinciding with the monthly Downtown Lititz Farmers Market. Activities will extend from the Farmers Market in nearby Lititz Springs Park to the closed section of Main Street from 4 to 8 p.m. Visitors are encouraged to share “something welcoming and positive” said Emily Allen, Venture Lititz’s Executive Director.

“We just want to show that nobody's closed, and also that it's a good chance to walk around and see the town,” Allen said. “Our goal is to bring people to Lititz and show them how wonderful our town is. We want to work with the merchants and help to support them.”

Both Allen and Leister see the chalk art as a way that the downtown community is “making lemonade out of lemons.” 

“There was lots of news that sounded dire, and we wanted to take this time to reinvent and say, ‘No, it's not a catastrophe,’” Allen said. “Actually, it's really fun. We can do all this fun stuff, and we can make our town look beautiful.” 

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