The City of St. John’s is presenting downtown businesses with two options for a pedestrian mall this summer, and Coun. Debbie Hanlon said there are a wide range of opinions on the idea.
Both options would close portions of downtown to vehicles as a way to encourage people to view the downtown area as a destination this summer, provide more space for physical distancing, and help businesses welcome more people by expanding out into the street.
Downtown St. John’s is polling its members to get feedback on two options.
The first option would see portions of Water Street (from Bishop’s Cove to Prescott Street) and Duckworth Street (from Cathedral Street to King’s Road) closed for three consecutive weeks in July, from July 3-26.
To provide event and cleaning staff, road closure and overnight security, and picnic tables will cost the city $95,000, according to city documents. If only one of the two streets is closed to vehicles, it will reduce the cost by roughly half.
The second option is to close the same portions of Water Street and Duckworth Street every weekend in July and August. This option will cost the city $98,000. Again, if only one street is considered, it cuts the cost in half.
In both options, allowance will be made to permit deliveries and access to businesses during certain times. As well, access to parking garages and emergency access will be maintained, according to the documents.
Coun. Debbie Hanlon, who is council’s representative on the Downtown St. John’s board, said city staff devised the options. She said the ultimate decision will rest with city council, which will make a decision based on engagement with downtown businesses.
She said Downtown St. John’s is polling businesses to get feedback on the two options, as well as whether they’d rather no pedestrian mall at all, or some other option.
“I’m hearing as far left and as far right as you can get. Some people say absolutely no, and other people say absolutely yes,” said Hanlon.
“And everyone has an opinion because their finger is on the pulse of their business. So, there’s a variance of what people want, depending on the particular business.”
She said based on feedback city council has heard, the public is largely in favour of implementing a pedestrian mall downtown, but ultimately council will make a decision that will be in the best interest of the businesses because they will be directly affected by it.
Trial period too short
At least one business owner is critical of the options.
Raymonds and The Merchant Tavern co-owner Jeremy Bonia told The Telegram neither option provides enough time for businesses to make a go of it.
“It’s hard to plan and invest in something that’s going to be such a short time period, especially weather depending.”
He said there’s a lot of planning involved in expanding a restaurant space into the street, from sourcing the necessary infrastructure to figuring out staffing changes.
“If you’re going to do it as a trial period, then fully immerse yourself in it. Get at least the summer out of it. I’d love to see it go as far as September, or October.
“Realistically, we’re still not aware of when we’re coming out of this (pandemic), and we have a good fall, usually. September can be a great month in Newfoundland, and they’re still thinking there’s going to be very little travel available at that time. It still might be an opportunity to draw more people who are staying home downtown.”
Despite the criticism, Bonia said he’s happy to see council is coming up with such a forward-thinking solution that will help restaurants make up some of the lost capacity due to physical-distancing measures.
Hanlon said council will try to make a decision that will please most of the businesses.
“It’s a big diverse group with a lot of invested interest, and it is going to be difficult to please everyone. So, what we’re hoping to do is come up with a happy medium.”
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