After spending several years on sidewalk extension construction, work at the corner of Whyte Avenue and Gateway Boulevard in south Edmonton has finished — but a headache remains for a popular pub. Whyte Avenue and Gateway Boulevard has wrapped up in south Edmonton — but the headache left behind for a popular pub remains.
“We thought it was going be short-term pain for some long-term gain. It’s been an absolute nightmare,” said Hudsons Canada’s Pub general manager Connor Yakabuski.
For years, Hudsons Canada’s Pub on the corner of the busy Old Strathcona intersection has operated a popular patio along the side of its building, but when sidewalk expansion construction began in 2021, the patio had to come down or intermittently have a smaller, temporary one set up.
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The space has been in limbo ever since. April 1 is the official day businesses can set outdoor patios up for the season. But Hudsons still has no idea if they’re able to or what it will look like.
Before the extended sidewalk construction, Hudsons had a permanent 50-seat patio attached to the side of the building.
Then in 2021, Hudsons was told to take it down for that summer.
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The following summer, Yakabuski said they had a temporary patio, which also ended up having to be removed. He said the business spent $750,000 to build it after he said the city approached the pub to do so.
The headaches continued into 2023 and now, Yakabuski said they’ve been told even with the widened sidewalk along Gateway Blvd. and Whyte Avenue, the pub can’t restore its patio to how it was before.
“Right now, we’re being told that we cannot essentially build our patio next to our building,” Yakabuski said, “It has to go right on this sidewalk here that we were thought was going to be a walkway for pedestrians,” he said gesturing to the expansion.
He said putting the patio on the new section of sidewalk right beside traffic, with pedestrian traffic walking in the middle, would be very detrimental to business.
“It would be very, very difficult for us to operate this summer. Summers on Whyte Ave. is essentially where we make all of our money,” he said, adding the summer patio alone brings in tens, if not hundreds of thousands of dollars in business each spring and summer.
“It’s our livelihood. People want to come down to Whyte Ave. for our awesome patios, and we’re basically being told we can’t do that.”
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City councillor Michael Janz said there have been growing pains as the city makes changes to its patio program.
“We have tension between the city trying to keep this the sidewalk clear and the business trying to say, ‘We don’t we don’t want our patrons eating dinner right beside traffic.’ No kidding!” Janz said.
“So we’re trying to figure out a solution here that can make sure the road and the sidewalk is still accessible and passable for everybody.”
Other bars in the area, such as Leopold’s Tavern across the street and Malt and Mortar a block away, are able to have patios attached to the business with a pedestrian boardwalk going around it — but Yakabuski said Hudsons was told because of the new sidewalk, the bar is part of a different program.
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He expressed that it's not just unfair, but also unsafe to have their outdoor seating so close to the traffic on Gateway Blvd.
“We’ve had two accidents here. I wouldn’t want to sit here, knowing that at any moment a driver could be looking at their phone and crashing into us. We’re the reason that all the concrete barricades are now in front of the outdoor seating,” Yakabuski said.
“It’s been a real struggle. Spending $1.2 million on our patio program to essentially have to pivot and shrink our patio by 80 per cent and go from there.”
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Yakabuski mentioned that the construction work was completed last fall, and he had been contacting the city every month to find out what to expect for their outdoor seating in the spring, but only received a response on March 1.
“We were always told we’re not sure what it’s going to look like… but we were never expecting this,” Yakabuski said.
Janz stated that the city understands that the short patio season in Edmonton is a profitable time for businesses.
“I hope we can find a good solution that helps everyone succeed because I want to go out and have a drink,” Janz said.
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He also mentioned that previous outdoor seating arrangements were not always accessible for people with disabilities, and the boardwalks set up in recent years caused some congestion and were difficult for strollers and wheelchairs to navigate.
Now, Janz said the city is working on patio guidelines that work for everyone, including businesses. However, so far, Hudsons says it’s not meeting their expectations.
“We thought this walkway was supposed to be built to help the pedestrian traffic on Whyte Avenue and it’s been the biggest nightmare we’ve dealt with so far,” Yakabuski said.
Yakabuski and Councillor Janz mentioned that the city is set to meet with Hudsons once again this Monday.
