Newmarket’s downtown businesses overwhelmingly praised last winter's first-ever Ice Lounge event on Main Street.
Town staff showcased feedback from a business survey following the event that closed down a portion of Main Street for a weekend full of winter-themed festivities Feb. 22 to 25. About 67 per cent of the 36 businesses had higher or significantly higher average sales compared to typical weekends and 78 per cent of businesses indicated they would support events like this in the future in both the winter and summer.
“The positive feedback on the street from the businesses was overwhelming,” Newmarket Mayor John Taylor said after a presentation to council April 15. “It’s really the type of thing that builds community.”
The event brought thousands of people to the street over the course of four days, with the municipality investing a lot to promote it. It featured ice bars, sculptures, live entertainment, firepits and a special permit for alcohol to be allowed openly on the street.
It was all in a bid to boost the downtown and provide a new event experience, which business development specialist Dave Lowes said it managed to do. About 68 per cent of businesses indicated it was as busy, or busier, compared to the busiest weekends of the year for them.
Councillor Bob Kwapis said businesses told him it was not something they could replicate themselves.
“During a time of year that’s usually the lowest business time, the boost was so incredible,” he said.
Not every business benefited the same way. Almost every restaurant surveyed spoke positively about the event’s business impact (92 per cent), while 80 per cent of retailers reported average or higher business compared to an average February while 62 per cent of service businesses did.
Taylor noted that the reality is that some businesses just would not get the same benefit from events like this, such as salons.
But Lowes said they would look at the feedback and try to work with businesses in the future who felt that the event did not do much for them.
“We may not get it perfect, but we’re going to do what we can to make sure it’s a positive experience for everybody,” Lowes said.
Asked about the budget, director of recreation and culture Colin Service said the first year would have higher initial costs due to the purchase of items to be used in the future, though he did not specify the exact cost. But he said that he expects, excluding staff time, the town could run the event for under $100,000 annually going forward.
Councillor Kelly Broome said the conversation about closing Main Street to traffic for a longer period has gone on for a long time and the event provided a positive example.
“It was difficult for some businesses to get their head around,” she said. “You blew the doors off it. Now you have buy-in, so I’m assuming every year moving forward is going to be terrific.”
However, Taylor said the town is not planning any similar weekend-long closures to traffic this summer, given the impact the opening of the Postmark Hotel might have on parking, and that a new parking facility to come at the tennis courts will not be ready yet this summer.
“It was heartening to see there were many businesses open to us looking at that in future years,” Taylor said. “I’m hard-pressed to think of any event that, especially first time, that got this kind of a high level of positive feedback.”
