As students finish taking their finals and pack up to leave for the summer, the city of Charleston is still in full swing.

Mayor John Inyart said this is the opportunity for landlords to fix up their apartment complexes.

Many will hire construction workers to improve their complexes, which will help with employment in the city, Inyart said.

Also, Eastern keeps the dorms filled with camps, workshops, and summer school, Inyart said.

Eastern will sponsor activities such as the IHSA Girls State Badminton Championships and the IHSA State Track Meets, he said. These events will bring a lot of people into Charleston and keep the traffic about the same on the streets.

During July, the city will sponsor a Fourth of July celebration called Red, White, & Blue Days in Morton Park.

Though student’s absences during the summer do affect local businesses.

“I believe the business that is most affected by student’s absences are the food and beverage industries,” Inyart said.

Marvin Mirick, owner of Indio Cigar Factory at 503 Seventh St., said he will shorten his hours of operation by eight hours and will be closed on Monday during the summer.

Mirick said during the summer he will mainly sell cigars to local residents because many students pay for the hookah sessions.

“I lose a lot of hookah sessions because of students absences,” Mirick said.

Indio Cigar Factory offers students over 30 varieties of hookah and is a specialty cigar shop, he said.

While a worker at Positively Fourth Street Records, at 411 Lincoln Ave., said the record store will not change its hours for the summer.

Also, Sandy Waters, an employee at Midgard Comics, at 102 W Lincoln Ave., said the would keep their hours of operation the same because not may Eastern students purchase the comics.

“Not that we do not have Eastern students buy our comic books, but is not our clientele,” Waters said.

A worker from Panther Paw & Grill, at 1412 Fourth St., said they would also keep the same hours of operation.

Inyart said he does believe the police department will be a little quieter because not as many groups of students will be roaming the streets from midnight to 2 a.m.

The parks and recreation department will have summer programs, though not as many afterschool activities, he said.

“Overall, its pretty quiet,” Inyart said.

Elizabeth Edwards can be reached at 581-7943 or [email protected].