CANMORE – Canmore’s pedestrian and cycling-only Main Street will remain in place until Monday (Sept. 21).
A decision on extending the changes on Main Street will be made the week of Sept. 14.
“We had anticipated a date after the long weekend in September according to provincial directives or Stage 3 [of Alberta’s relaunch strategy] going ahead. As of now, Stage 3 doesn’t seem to be forthcoming anytime soon,” said Eleanor Miclette, Town of Canmore manager of economic development.
Local businesses were also contacted through a business visitation program to give feedback about the closure.
Miclette believes many of the restaurants along Main Street are in favour of the extension because of the limits posed to their business by the protocols outlined in the province’s Stage 2 strategy.
“We have had a number of downtown businesses email us requesting the extension of the closure,” Miclette said.
“If Main Street reopens they will have to take down their patios and operate within their boundaries, which for our restauranteurs is at half capacity.”
The Town’s primary goal of the pedestrianized zone was to allow for safe social distancing for residents and visitors, who have also voiced a desire to see the extension of the closure.
“I’ve never actually received more emails from town residents and visitors that they love the closure. In the end, the safety of our residents and visitors was always the focus and to help stop the closure of local businesses,” Miclette said. “We’re in a pandemic – nobody has lived through this before and I think we have adapted well.”
Miclette said several businesses that were initially opposed to the closure have reported record profits this year and are now in favour of an extension.
Despite all the positives, Miclette said there were some challenges, namely parking.
“Parking in Canmore is challenging on the best of days,” she said.
Business visitations will continue until the end of August to aid in the decision for an extension of the closure, while high visitation numbers, good weather and no change in the provincial relaunch strategy are the main factors in the decision.
“We have a letter from a few businesses asking for an extension past Thanksgiving," Miclette. "While that would be great, however, weather is not always on our side in the mountains. We need to ensure the safety of everyone and make sure those in our operations teams would be able to do what they need in those circumstances.”
