As the northern hemisphere welcomes the start of autumn, businesses in London, Ont., are busy looking for ways to combat potential slowdowns the cold weather will bring in the age of COVID-19.
Public health officials have stressed that the risk of virus transmission is higher indoors, where poor ventilation can help spread COVID-19. Outdoors, meanwhile, factors like the wind and sun can hinder transmission.
Now business owners are looking to see what they, and the city, can do to encourage people to get outdoors this fall and winter, even as temperatures drop.
Jody Palubski, CEO of the Charcoal Group of Restaurants which includes Beertown in London, says the group is looking at ways to encourage outdoor dining as the seasons change, even investing $125,000 in heaters in recent weeks. They’ve also looked into patio coverings, but are still debating their options.
“One restaurant patio covering, as an example, with enough strength to be able to have a snow load on, is probably up in around $70,000,” Palubski said.
“You start looking and saying, ‘do I spend that, prolong it and create more space? Or in the event that I close down, am I going to wish that I had those resources ready to go to help support me over the two or three months we could be closed again.”
He says the group has also been thankful for provincial and municipal action allowing for expanded patios over the summer, which combined with warm weather enabled restaurants to “bring a lot of people back to work, keep a lot of restaurants afloat,” Palubski said.
Barbara Maly, executive director of Downtown London, says a lot of its businesses are trying to “adapt their patios to ensure they have heaters and so forth” to welcome patrons throughout the fall and winter.
“We have been working with the city to extend patios until Oct. 16. And again, we’ll continue to try and find those solutions to ensure that our businesses, in particular restaurants, but also retailers are being supported as well as those personal service providers.”
Middlesex-London Health Unit medical officer of health Dr. Chris Mackie says he’s very glad to see businesses planning ahead for the winter months.
“That is a huge advantage if people can spend time outdoors. The outdoor air circulates much more freely than indoor air and so you get enough turnover that the risk of the air accumulating enough virus to infect you dramatically declines,” he said.
“Of course, you still want to keep your distance when you’re outdoors. Of course, you don’t want to have large enough gatherings that close contact is bound to occur among people outside of their social bubbles or their social circles.
“But I see outdoor restaurant activity as a major positive and a real strategy to reduce the potential harms that could come otherwise from gathering indoors.”
The London Bicycle Café’s Ben Cowie has been looking for more action from the municipal government, suggesting that the city can do a lot more to be winter-friendly. He tweeted over the weekend that the issue is especially urgent amid the pandemic.
“We don’t have amenities like trash cans or plowed paths in parks from November to March. That needs to change ASAP,” he said.
Cowie also suggested other outdoor options, including: community bonfires; a cross-country ski, snowshoe, and fatbike (off-road bicycle with oversized tires) track at the Thames Valley Golf Course; and an outdoor Christmas market on Dundas Place in December.
The idea of an outdoor market, in particular, drew enthusiasm from local small business owner Nadia Petrasiunas.
“There’s no question that we need to create winter events in our community that are outdoors, encourage exercise, and still provide small businesses the avenues to create revenue that may be closed or restricted as we enter the second wave of the pandemic and beyond,” she told Global News.
Petrasiunas owns Rowan & Raven Yarn which offers hand-dyed yarn. Her goal is to eventually offer a boutique/community space “for fibre enthusiasts of all kinds to store space- or resource-consuming equipment” like spinning wheels, looms, cutting tables, sergers, and knitting machines.
She’s had to slow her business plans as she’s home looking after her two daughters and all of her festival events have been cancelled.
“I had the privilege of attending an outdoor market run by the Hamilton Fibre Forge just two weeks ago and it really proved how critical these events can be for vendors, especially new ones, not just because of the sales, but the connections made with customers and other vendors alike.”
Petrasiunas says she’d like to see the City of London or local community organizations plan outdoor markets throughout the city and perhaps facilitate sharing outdoor heaters to have them “tour around the city for various outdoor markets and other events.”
Dundas Place manager Savanah Sewell told Global News that businesses are encouraged to use the flex street space but no additional programming is currently in the works.
“We will continue to monitor the situation, but right now public safety is at top of mind.”
— with files from Olivia Bowden.