Like almost every town these days, local leaders have been scratching their heads to come up with ways to help downtown merchants, and mainly, restaurants get back in business as the region enters the second phase of opening back up. And in the case of dining venues, that means trying to maximize their outdoor seating capacity, which right now for many is just a narrow sidewalk.
The Town of Easton council decided they could help some of those businesses by closing down a block of a downtown street (Washington Street) which would provide an extra 25 feet of room for outdoor seating but also a safe place for the community to gather with plenty of social distancing to enjoy other retail stores, live music or other family fun programming.
For a few hours on select days, the Washington Street block in front of the Talbot Courthouse will almost instantly transform itself into a pedestrian mall. The town will be calling it the Washington Street Promenade.
We sat down with Ross Benincasa, director of Discover Easton, to get the details on how this might work for Easton and other towns.
This video is approximately three minutes in length.
Update (July 8, 2020) The Easton town council voted Wednesday afternoon to nix the Promenade project.
Chris Cerino says
Note that starting this Saturday, July 4th, the Town of Chestertown is embarking on a similar initiative by closing vehicular access to two blocks of High Street (the section between Queen and Cross Streets, as well as from Cross to Spring Streets) to accommodate the return of the Chestertown Farmers’ Market to the Historic District. It is our hope that this will also encourage visitation to all of the other shops, galleries, and restaurants nearby. If this is successful, we hope to extend this model through the end of the calendar year. Lastly, kudos to Chestertown residents for wearing masks in public spaces to blunt the spread of Covid-19. Nobody loves wearing masks, but it is a simple, easy, and cost-effective way to avoid another spike in cases like we are currently seeing in many other states across the country. This, in turn, allows all of us to preserve the freedom of movement throughout our society that we all enjoy and hold so dear.
Kay MacIntosh says
Yes! Congratulations to Ross and his Easton colleagues for their evolving pedestrian squares. In Chestertown the Farmers Market worked well downtown this morning. Plus Casa Carmen had a lovely first anniversary evening on a closed section of Cannon Street last night, and next Saturday evening The Kitchen at the Imperial hosts it’s third “Chestertown al Fresco” dinner. People are happy to have an outdoor option, to feel they are dining in community with others while maintaining the recommended distancing. Thanks to The Town for its support of the needed street closures.