Opening of Station Street Common in Downtown Duncan

DUNCAN: The Downtown Duncan BIA and the City of Duncan are excited to announce the opening of the Station Street Common for summer 2021. Six round concrete tables with benches and red umbrellas have been installed in 85 Station Street park so locals and visitors to downtown can enjoy takeout from restaurants as well as the ambiance of downtown Duncan in the summer. Two of the six tables are designed to be wheelchair accessible.

In July 2020, the Downtown Duncan BIA partnered with the City of Duncan and Island Coastal Economic Trust on a pilot version of this project, offering temporary outdoor seating for the public to enjoy takeout at 85 Station Street park. The temporary food court, staffed by Downtown Duncan BIA ambassadors, was a popular place for residents to come together safely during the height of the COVID-19 restrictions.

This year, as the Province of British Columbia opens up after the pandemic, the Station Street Common will no longer be staffed except in the case of special events. A hand sanitizer station is available at the entrance and visitors are requested to clean their area up after themselves.

Visitors are encouraged to visit the website: www.downtownduncan.ca/restaurants to see all the downtown Duncan restaurant menus.

“It is great to be back in the Station Street Common. One of the great things that came out of this past year was that we were able to re-discover local businesses, and as we restart I hope we will continue to support our local restaurants and businesses,” Mayor Michelle Staples stated at the opening of the park.

“The Downtown Duncan BIA really hopes that this cheerful gathering space will bring the community together again. We thank everyone for shopping locally this past year and ask that we all continue to support restaurants, retailers, and other local businesses. We want to acknowledge the City of Duncan’s support of local businesses and the Downtown Duncan BIA this past year. We are really grateful for this partnership,” added Amanda Vance, executive director of the Downtown Duncan BIA.

This is the second project this year that the Downtown Duncan BIA and the City of Duncan have worked together on to support local restaurants. When on March 29th the Province of British Columbia announced the new “Circuit Breaker” restrictions, including a ban on indoor dining in restaurants, the Downtown Duncan BIA worked with the City of Duncan and Community Futures Cowichan to devise and execute a “patio enhancement program.” With a grant from Community Futures Cowichan, the Downtown Duncan BIA purchased six patio heaters to loan to restaurants while also lending restaurants the teal tables and red umbrellas from last summer’s Station Street Common project. The Downtown Duncan BIA also distributed the City of Duncan’s form to local restaurants to permit them to expand patios into parking spaces and public property. The City of Duncan expedited the review of all applications to use City property and parking spaces for seating, and waived permit fees. In some cases, the City of Duncan set up barricades for restaurants using parking spaces for expanded outdoor seating.

These patio extensions are still in place at restaurants like Fresh Kenny’s, the Garage, Corner House Cafe, and Arbutus Cafe. Combined with this year’s Station Street Common, there is an abundance of outdoor seating available for the public to enjoy downtown Duncan this summer!