WINDSOR, ONT. -- Event spaces in Windsor are beginning to see business return thanks to new provincial regulations allowing up to 50 people per room in qualifying facilities.
On Friday, the province rolled out the updated regulation that would allow professional meeting and event facilities like convention centres, hotels and banquet halls to have 50 guests, excluding staff, per event space as long as a plan approved by public health officials was in place.
The ‘open’ sign was put up quickly after Windsor-Essex entered Stage 3 of Ontario’s reopening framework.
“When Premier [Doug] Ford say we could open at 11 [a.m.], we were open at 11 [a.m],” said Ron Moro, the general manager of Windsor’s Giovanni Caboto Club.
The Stage 3 announcement for Windsor-Essex by Premier Ford saw the club’s bar and pizzeria open and event spaces again available after months of cancellations.
According to Moro, the club saw its staff of roughly 100 whittled down to a skeleton crew as about 800 events were cancelled — including charity fundraisers and weddings.
“Those events were tough because you could hear the stress in the voice of the bride,” said Moro. “We’d put them all down for dates and say, ‘We’ll see what happens.’ That kind of hurt.”
Moro says the recovery is beginning as calls continue to come in to reschedule previously cancelled events. Many charity events have already been rescheduled for 2021 and 2022, according to Moro, and the club held its first event in months on Monday — a somber memorial.
The club’s days are far from numbered.
“First of all, Caboto Club’s been around for almost a hundred years so, we’re not going anywhere,” said Moro. “But, there has to be some conversation, there has been and will continue to be, as to [where] the future of Caboto Club lies.”
The concern for the future was a reality for smaller spaces across the region, like Legion branches.
Ken Dault, the president of Royal Canadian Legion Branch 255 in Windsor’s Riverside neighbourhood, admits the survival of the branch crept into his mind at times during the most difficult periods of the pandemic lockdown.
“We never reached that level but, that thought’s there,” said Dault. “You didn’t want to think about it but, it’s there.”
Dault says the COVID-19 restrictions saw the branch lose out on one of its biggest days of the year — St. Patrick’s Day.
The lost revenue and oversupply of inventory created challenges for the 430-member branch.
Dault says a new patio has proved a hit and helped to keep the branch afloat.
Now, the inside of the branch is open again, with a bartender back behind the taps pouring pints for thirsty customers. However, Dault says they’re holding off on scheduling new events to see what turn in the road the pandemic offers next.
Members are the first priority and on the front, the branch has signed up 30 new members in the past month — well above what would normally be a good month of 10 to 13.
“It’s great news,” said Dault. “Still getting calls, still feeling very confident going forward.”
A new kitchen operator is also set to move into the branch as of Sept. 1.
Dault sees the moves as a morale boost as members return to share food and drink in their home away from home.
“We have one member, he’s a World War Two veteran. He’s 98 years old and he wants to come here every day and have his glass of draft beer,” said Dault. “One of his children would always bring him and he couldn’t do that.”
The uptake has been slow, but for event spaces both big and small, there is now a slow creep towards returning to pre-pandemic business. For people like Moro, how long that takes is still the million-dollar question.
“The walk-in business, I think people are still a little uncomfortable coming into buildings or going out in public,” said Moro. “We’re ready to go with it. Whatever it is, it is.”
