Boathouse’s future on hold during pandemic, Kitchener says
KITCHENER — Plans to reopen the Boathouse in Victoria Park are on hold because of the pandemic, even as the City of Kitchener spends $158,000 to replace the roof of the lakeside venue.
The Boathouse closed abruptly on Halloween last year, after tenants left five years into a 10year lease.
At the time, the city said it would review the future of the Boathouse and determine current community needs. It had planned to issue a request for proposals by the end of 2019 for new operators to reopen the facility, ideally this spring, in time for patio season.
That request for proposals has been put on hold until it’s clearer what the pandemic-imposed physical distancing rules will be and when restaurants and bars will be allowed to reopen.
“Nobody really knows what the world is going to look like six or12 months from now,” said Brian Bennett, Kitchener’s manager of business development. “There could be more space available competing with the Boathouse.”
He said the city won’t issue a request for proposals until the rules are perfectly clear, because “we just want to go to market once.”
The city has made a significant investment in the building, spending $410,000 to renovate the site and another $350,000 in patio and walkway upgrades before it reopened in 2015.
And now the city is spending $158,000 more on a new roof. “The old roof was at its end of life, with numerous leaks which could damage the interior of the building,” Bennett said, adding that it makes sense to do the work when the building is vacant. The cost was approved in January as part of the 2020 capital budget.
“I realize we are a long way from opening the facility, but I consider it to be an amazing city asset,” said Coun. Debbie Chapman in an email. “My hope is that it would reopen as a restaurant/music venue for local bands. I would also like to see a concession booth of some sort offering ice cream, fries etc. at a takeout window.”
She said finding new tenants for the facility “is not a priority right now. The current focus is on all the aspects of safely reopening city services and facilities.”
While it’s not ideal to have the city-owned building sit empty, Bennett said, the city’s concerns for the Boathouse are no different than for any other food and beverage business in the city: the hope is to have them open safely as soon as possible.
The popular venue seats about 150 people and another 135 on the patio. It was originally built to store canoes and as a shelter for people putting on their skates. Over the years, it has served as a tea house, a pub and a bar with live music.