Sidewalk construction forces Wolseley cafe to close
Laura Glowacki | CBC News | Posted: September 23, 2016 12:29 AM | Last Updated: September 23, 2016
Restaurant 1958 too ‘small and insignificant’ for city to care, says owner
The owner of a small cafe in the heart of Wolseley is planning to shutter the business permanently because he can't see an end to sidewalk construction directly outside.
Ross Jeffers, owner of 1958, said the construction has prevented him from opening his cafe for nearly two weeks.
Earlier this summer, Jeffers received a letter notifying him crews would be resurfacing the back lane behind his comfort food restaurant on Westminster Avenue and Chestnut Street.
Then, unexpectedly, crews began digging up the sidewalk directly in front of 1958 leaving behind a nearly two-foot drop outside his entrance.
"If somebody were to fall going in or out that's going to be problematic for me," he said.
The City of Winnipeg said in an email to CBC it "understands that construction work can be disruptive to residents and area businesses and we work to minimize the impact as much as possible." The city says Jeffers was notified about the project and given a timeline as well as contact information for "consultants" involved in the project.
The drop is significant enough that Jeffers said he is struggling to use the entrance himself. Nearly two weeks ago he made the difficult decision to close temporarily until the work is completed, he said.
"All I can do is hope that this gets finished in a timely fashion," he said.
"We need day-to-day income to survive …. We have utility bills, we have rent. If we're not open there's no revenue coming in."
Would the city do this in front of a big box store? We all know the answer. - Ross Jeffers
The cafe 1958 is zoned commercial as a take-out restaurant and seats exactly 10 people.
Jeffers said the business relies on regular customers who come week after week for eggs benedict on weekends and sandwiches on weekdays.
"Our community has been overwhelmingly supportive of me," said Jeffers. City officials, on the other hand are a different story, he said.
Small business gets no respect
Jeffers has contacted Mayor Brian Bowman's office and his city councillor Cindy Gilroy. He said crews have not offered to install a temporary step up to his entrance nor have city officials answered his requests for financial compensation.
Along with losses from being closed for nearly two weeks, Jeffers said his walls have cracks from construction vibration.
"We're so small and insignificant it doesn't matter … we're in Wolseley. We're not getting a lot of respect," he said.
"Would the city do this in front of a big box store? We all know the answer."
While Jeffers said he appreciated the improvements to the back lane, the city could have done a better job notifying him ahead of time of the sidewalk work and giving him a sense of when it would be completed.
In two weeks, if the sidewalk is still dug up, he said he will have to close his cafe for good.