Visit Us
Walk through history as we guide you to things to learn, places to discover, and events that help connect us to our rich heritage.
Morning Call: A skating rink in Centre Square? Easton, Bethlehem plan ways to help businesses during holiday season
October 22nd, 2020 | In The News
Written by Christina Tatu and Michelle Merlin for The Morning Call
Easton officials are hoping a skating rink and outdoor huts will help local retailers weather the coronavirus outbreak through the holiday shopping season.
On Wednesday, Mayor Sal Panto Jr. announced the second phase of the city’s business recovery program: to create a holiday village downtown where shoppers could stay outdoors while purchasing goods from local retailers, sipping hot chocolate, getting fresh food from the farmers market and perhaps skating on an ice rink on the 300 block of Northampton Street.
“We want to give the retailers in Easton a chance to sell more product, to bring people down, to have a synergy,” Panto said.
Officials in Bethlehem and Easton are trying to find ways to help local businesses through the holiday season. Both are looking at expanding outdoor opportunities for businesses so shoppers who may be concerned about COVID-19 can still spend money locally.
Easton officials expect the project to cost about $100,000, which would be paid through a combination of state and federal grants as well as city funds.
Panto hopes the village can open Nov. 13, noon to 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and noon to 6 p.m. Sundays. He expects it will run until Christmas or the end of the year. There would be at least 20 huts for retailers, with Easton businesses getting first dibs. Skating would be free for residents and available for a nominal fee for nonresidents. Panto envisions vendors selling seasonal foods such as hot chocolate and warm wine, and the Easton Farmers’ Market coming back to Centre Square on Saturdays in December.
Kim Kmetz, Easton Main Street Initiative manager, said about half of the 40-45 businesses downtown expressed an interest in the program.
“This is their bread and butter time of year,” she said. “About 35% of their sales for the year are in November and December, so we want to make sure that all of them are with us into 2021 and beyond.”
The city’s first phase of the recovery program was geared more toward restaurants. It involved allowing restaurants to expand into sidewalks and some streets to allow for more outdoor dining.
In Bethlehem, Historic Bethlehem Museums & Sites announced new outdoor activities this holiday season to help make up for the loss of its bus tours. The events include festivities in the city’s Colonial Industrial Quarter and the Burnside Greens Sale & Market at Burnside Plantation.
Mayor Robert Donchez also announced Wednesday that he is extending use of the city’s parklets through Dec. 4 to help retailers and restaurants. Donchez said he plans to reevaluate the decision in mid-November and could extend the parklets through Dec. 31. The city began installing parklets throughout its downtown in June and expanded them in July when Gov. Tom Wolf further restricted indoor dining.
“It is also my goal to make the parklets an annual event. I believe it adds a lot to our downtowns,” Donchez said on social media.
His announcement comes two days after about 30 Bethlehem restaurant owners and members of the business community protested Wolf’s decision to veto a bill that would have significantly relaxed dining restrictions. Most significantly, House Bill 2513 would have done away with 25% indoor capacity limitations and the requirement to buy a meal with alcohol sales. Those mandates have been in effect since July 15.
Last month Wolf allowed restaurants to increase their indoor occupancy to 50%, as long as they certify with the state that they are complying with all public health guidelines. But even at 50% indoor capacity, restaurant owners are struggling with how to bolster sales through the winter.
“It’s saved a lot of anxiety or fear of the unknown from happening with our restaurant owners because this has given us a solution,” Tammy Wendling, Downtown Bethlehem Association’s Manager said of the city’s decision to extend parklets through December. “At 50% capacity when you add staff, it’s very minimal, so we are still restricted on space and that’s been the issue those entire time.”
