The City of Morganton Main Street Office is bringing downtown’s best eats to the streets with the creation of “parklets” and “streateries” throughout the downtown area. Restaurants, breweries and social establishments tend to be the first to attract people to an area, and those customers then branch out to all the retail shops. By helping these establishments seat more customers, this Main Street initiative will bring more patrons to all downtown businesses.
Morganton City Council approved the creation of these areas at its June 1 meeting. Parklets and streateries create temporary areas in parking spots, on sidewalks and in public streets for people to sit and dine or drink outside of a nearby business. This effectively maximizes how many customers a business can serve while still adhering to state-mandated restrictions that are in place to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
“We know that our downtown businesses have suffered unprecedented hardship during the economic crisis created by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Main Street Director Sharon Jablonski. “Parklets and streateries are an innovative way for us to help our businesses serve as many customers as possible while still adhering to COVID-19 restrictions. It also gives our citizens a unique experience to look forward to this summer.”
The new parklets and streateries will be in place for the next 90 days, or until the State of Emergency issued by North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper is lifted. These new areas have been installed on East and West Union Street, North Sterling Street, and North Green Street. One parklet location, on East Concord Street, between Green and Sterling, can be installed and removed on demand by the local business as needed to accommodate larger numbers of customers.
TOSS, a local nonprofit art collective, was commissioned by the Main Street Office to create art banners that are draped over the fenced-in parklet areas, to give the installations a unique and aesthetically pleasing appearance.
The N.C. Forest Service is constructing two new parklets that will allow for some unique outdoor seating. They should be installed in the next 2 weeks. Judge’s Riverside Restaurant has very generously loaned the Main Street office tables and chairs to assist with this project.
“Morganton’s Main Street Office has always been at the forefront of finding new and innovative ways to help our downtown businesses,” Jablonski said. “It is our hope that these new parklets and streateries help our businesses recover some lost revenue, and provide our citizens with a unique experience to enjoy this summer.”
