IG News Updates,
On warm and sunny days, some people are wondering: Why haven’t the patios in downtown Kitchener opened yet?
The pop-up courtyards along the sidewalks are part of a project done through the Downtown Kitchener BIA. Executive director Linda Jatzi says the BIA thought they had a “really early jump” when the courtyard was ready last month, but there are two reasons for the delay: weather and construction.
“We’re waiting on the contractor who is going to put a new overhead cover on all the patios,” she told CBC News. “When we had 10 lovely days of rain, we had a slight delay, which put the contractor behind schedule.”
The contractor is Pop-Up Street Patios, a Hamilton, Ontario-based company. Co-owner and president Saverio Valerio said these projects have deadlines set in March and after days of rain last month, his company had to move to fulfill other contracts.
“Our contracts allow for all state season,” Valerio said, adding the staff will return to the city of Kitchener next week. “We take this to heart. We honestly feel bad.”
Another reason for the delay is the construction along King Street. The city is replacing the paving stones in the area between City Hall and Ontario Street.
“Those businesses will be affected and there could be a delay of a couple of weeks,” Zutzi said.
The good news is that businesses not affected by the construction are expected to move furniture onto their patios this weekend, even without new overhead covers.
people eager to enjoy the courtyard
Disappointment has spread among the businessmen due to the non-opening of the pandal. Don Tran, owner of Matter of Taste coffee shop, says they usually try to have tables out by mid-April.
“But now we’re in the middle of May and we still have no idea when it’s going to be ready,” she said.
She says customers are definitely looking forward to hitting a patio.
“The weather’s here, so I mean people are eager to come out, enjoy the outdoors, but with the patio not being set up and the construction going on, we’re not really seeing a lot of foot traffic,” Tran said. Are.”
summer music series
Zutzi said the BIA is working on a patio map, which will be available in the coming weeks to direct people to outdoor dining spots.
Plus, the BIA is planning a summer music series to entice people to come downtown several nights a week.
Contains:
- Wednesday night Happy Hour concerts at Vogelsang Green, Parkette at the corner of Duke Street E. and Queen Street N.
- Pop-up concerts on Thursday nights around the downtown area.
- Sunset Series on Friday evenings at Vogelsang Green.
- Saturday morning music near Kitchener Market.
“We still have programs where we support businesses that bring music to their own venues,” Jutzi said.
“There’s going to be a lot of activity downtown. So we’re really excited about that.”