MONTREAL – It started with a letter that Robert Spiridigliozzi tweeted to Montreal mayor Denis Coderre, looking for answers.
He’s worried about how upcoming construction at Dorchester Square will affect his café, which sits in the centre of the park.
The square is slated to get a facelift in August.
With no response from the mayor, Spiridigliozzi turned to the media.
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READ MORE: Montreal’s Dorchester Square to get a makeover
“What will happen to our material that’s inside? We need to know if we can move it and what kind of timeline the city has,” insisted Spiridigliozzi.
After Global News covered the story, Coderre personally reached out to the owner to offer reassurance.
“I spoke to Robert myself,” Coderre told Global News.
“We will work together and we will see and give him some information.”
Spiridigliozzi said he’s glad he will finally be getting answers.
“He actually told me he would be taking care of the situation and getting back to me on what’s going on with some factual answers.”
Café Buongiorno has been open since 1998.
It has seen its fair share of construction – the southern portion of the square was redone in 2010 and last year, Place du Canada was renovated.
Now, the city is redesigning the area around his café in order to build new walkways, create a fountain and repave the street.
Coderre assured Global News that he would stay on top of the file.
“I said ‘listen, I’m on my way and we will meet again and we will talk. There’s no problem,'” said Coderre.
Spiridigliozzi said he’s happy to have received a personal call from the mayor, but actions speak louder than words.
“I’m a bit reassured but being so long in business, I’ll only feel really assured when things get done the business way on paper and we’ll take it from there,” he said.
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