NEWBURYPORT — Mayor Donna D. Holaday is pleased to share that a ribbon cutting will be held today to formally unveil the City’s new parklets, which will play a key role in outdoor dining and supporting local restaurants as they recover from the pandemic.
WHEN:
Thursday, May 13 at 4 p.m.
WERE:
Corner of Essex and State Streets.
State Street will be briefly closed on Thursday to support the event.
WHO:
- Mayor Donna Holaday
- Chief of Staff Matt Coogan
- Greater Newburyport Chamber of Commerce Representatives
- City Council Members
- Department of Public Services (DPS) Deputy Director Jamie Tuccolo
- DPS Staff
- Local restaurant owners
WHAT:
The City of Newburyport is holding a ribbon cutting to unveil its new grant-funded parklets on Thursday. The parklets offer a more aesthetically pleasing option for diners to eat outdoors, and include features such as tables, chairs, wooden decking, flowers and umbrellas. The parklets are modular and can be taken down for storage during the winter months, and will serve the city and its visitors for years to come.
The parklets provide critically-important space that allows restaurants to expand their capacity and serve diners in a way that’s both enjoyable and safe as the city continues its efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19.
Approximately nine parklets have been installed around the city on Pleasant and State Streets in front of restaurants including: Port Tavern, Agave, Anchor Stone Deck Pizza, Paddle Inn, Carmine’s and Brine. On Pleasant Street parklets have been installed in front of: Angie’s Food and Diner, Loretta, and Lin’s Little Kitchen. To provide space for the parklets and expanded outdoor dining, the city has loosened restrictions for select outdoor dining on streets, sidewalks, plazas, parking lots, and in parks.
“Having expanded outdoor dining options was instrumental in helping our restaurants reopen and generate business last year, and we’re pleased to be offering a more permanent and, frankly, more appropriate way for everyone to enjoy this spring and summer,” Mayor Holaday said. “We’re thankful the state awarded us a grant to support this opportunity, which will be a much-appreciated asset for local businesses recovering from the challenges of the pandemic.”
The City has been able to install the parklets this spring thanks to a $280,000 Shared Streets grant from the Massachusetts Department of Transpiration (MassDOT) awarded this winter.
The parklets expand last year’s successful parklet program in Newburyport, which the city plans to continue even beyond the pandemic to support additional outdoor dining opportunities during the warmer months. The parklets played a key role in supporting businesses in reopening last spring and summer, and will again be a resource to support outdoor dining this year. The updated outdoor dining areas replace the large, temporary barriers the city utilized in parking areas in 2020.
For the latest updates, visit the city’s website here and the Mayor’s news blog here.
###