Hawkins guides downtown back to normal

LOVELAND — Last summer during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Loveland Downtown District drummed up business for restaurants, bars, breweries and retail shops in multiple ways from paying their rent to extending their patios onto streets and in alleys.

Though some of the programs remain in place this summer, downtown businesses are getting back to normal — and activities like the One Sweet Summer event series are once again drawing the crowds as they did in 2019.

“Through COVID, we dealt with the different punches that were thrown at us and responded to them in different ways,” said Sean Hawkins, executive director of…