{"id":53132,"date":"2020-06-24T21:10:32","date_gmt":"2020-06-25T03:10:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/durango-businesses-get-creative-with-main-avenue-bump-outs\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T04:02:55","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T10:02:55","slug":"durango-businesses-get-creative-with-main-avenue-bump-outs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/durango-businesses-get-creative-with-main-avenue-bump-outs\/","title":{"rendered":"Durango businesses get creative with Main Avenue bump-outs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Local
Local author John Peel, center, talks with tourists during his book signing Tuesday in front of Maria\u2019s Bookshop in the bump-out where the store created a garden setting.<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Maria\u2019s Bookshop created a garden, Carver\u2019s calls its Main Avenue tables \u201cThe Front Porch,\u201d El Moro is offering outdoor seating and has only started to enhance its bump-out.<\/p>\n

Across downtown Durango, restaurants and the odd shop or two have begun designing and creating their own outdoor spaces in the 10-foot street intrusion allowed them under the city\u2019s Bump-Outs for Business program.<\/p>\n

The program has proved generally popular with small-business owners with a few exceptions among merchants who worry about parking, Durango\u2019s perennial downtown problem.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love the whole idea of doing this all up and down Main. We were eager to participate. When we thought about it, we weren\u2019t sure putting merchandise out would work, so we thought about what might work, and this is what we came up with \u2013 a place where people can relax,\u201d said Maria\u2019s co-owner Evan Schertz.<\/p>\n

The garden is the silver lining in COVID-19 restrictions that has Maria\u2019s Bookshop<\/a> limiting the number of customers into the bookshop to six at any one time.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a nice place to wait if we\u2019re busy, and it turned out better than I had hoped for,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s kind of turned into a never-ending project. I still have plans to add some more plants, some chairs. I\u2019m going to fiddle with it all summer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Durango
Durango Coffee Co. has created a comfortable setting in its bump-out.<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

David Woodruff, general manager of El Moro Spirits and Tavern<\/a>, said beyond being able to accommodate increased requests for outdoor tables during the COVID-19 pandemic, the bump-out, four-table patio is proving a summertime draw. The restaurant, beyond two small window-side tables, has never been able to offer outdoor seating.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s especially popular with the awning so the sun isn\u2019t beating down on you, and people do feel more comfortable eating outside, where there\u2019s virtually no chance of transmission of the virus,\u201d Woodruff said. \u201cPeople ask for outdoor seating, and I love telling them, yes. I\u2019m in the \u2018yes\u2019 business, not the \u2018no\u2019 business.\u201d<\/p>\n

The four tables El Moro added on Main have increased capacity 40% at a time when space is at a premium with COVID-19 health restrictions limiting the dining room to 50% of capacity.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a whole other section I can garner revenue from, and it adds to the curb appeal. It\u2019s really a big benefit for us,\u201d Woodruff said.<\/p>\n

Ideally, Woodruff would like to see the COVID-19 experiment with bump-outs become a feature Durango can bring back for warm weather dining in future years. However, he thinks that will happen only when the bump-outs can be shown to have benefits for retail and personal services businesses in addition to restaurants.<\/p>\n

With Durango\u2019s need for snow removal, Woodruff said the bump-outs wouldn\u2019t be a feasible as a year-round configuration.<\/p>\n

\"Switchback
Switchback taco bar, Fired Up Pizzeria and Derailed Pour House have set up bump-outs on Main Avenue.<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Holly Lee, co-owner of Affordable Framing on Main, said the bump-out program is working better for her after a bicycle rack she did not want was removed from the parking spaces in front of her shop, but she\u2019d still prefer to see parking spaces take priority over business expansion into the street.<\/p>\n

\u201cParking has always been a problem in Durango, so why would you want to fill up parking spaces?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n

The bump-out program has taken away an estimated 60 parking spaces on Main Avenue.<\/p>\n

The city has about 1,000 metered spaces downtown and 350 permit parking spaces on off-street parking lots on East Second Avenue and at the Transit Center.<\/p>\n

As for Maria\u2019s garden, Lee said she is not a fan.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want all our restaurants to survive, but I\u2019m not sure what purpose the garden serves other than taking up three parking spaces,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\"Rob
Rob and Marnee Zazueta eat lunch in the new Carver Brewing Co. bump-out with their children Cora, 10, and Zabrena, 6, on Tuesday.<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Seasons,
Seasons, like many Main Avenue restaurants, is taking advantage of the city&#x2019;s Bump-Outs for Business program.<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Assistant City Manager Kevin Hall said the city is likely to keep the reconfigured striping on Main Avenue at least until next spring after an evaluation of how well it handles traffic.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we find that it\u2019s working, we will very likely have a very similar configuration next year. If we find it has problems or congestion, we\u2019ll look at alternatives,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

So far, Hall said the city has largely received positive feedback to changes on Main.<\/p>\n

The center, left-turn lane has drawn praise as has providing more space on sidewalks for pedestrians, he said.<\/p>\n

The city looked at issues with deliveries, parking and emergency access before beginning the bump-outs and the reconfiguration of Main, and so far, he said, the city has not received negative feedback about the changes.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been with the city 19 years, and there\u2019s been multiple initiatives to try to modify how Main Avenue works, with the pedestrians, with traffic. And I think this gives us an opportunity to kind of revisit some of those things,\u201d Hall said. \u201cThere\u2019s no specific course of action being planned right now at all, other than to get us through the summer, providing extra space for some of those businesses. And we\u2019ll re-evaluate, to see whether we go long term with any of this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jim Carver, who has five tables on his bump-out placed on a platform of panels to eliminate the uneven crown on the road, said the experiment is successful for the brewpub, and he may add two more additional tables before he\u2019s done with his bump-out.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou go up and down Main Avenue, and it really has created a fun atmosphere,\u201d he said. \u201cThe other day I walked out and there were 15 kids enjoying their ice cream in front of Cream Bean Berry.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carver, like most businesses using bump-outs, is still working on his design, with plans to better secure shading in addition to adding tables.<\/p>\n

He offered praise to the city in bringing the program from drawing board to fruition quickly. The city also streamlined the process of getting liquor licenses amended to allow alcohol service at bump-out tables. Carver said the swift work by the city has provided timely relief for businesses constrained under COVID-19 restrictions.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen we take these down in the fall, I think Main is going to look so asphalty, he said.<\/p>\n

\"Dave
Dave Woodruff, general manager of El Moro Spirits and Tavern, said the restaurant&#x2019;s bump-out allows it to accommodate more requests for outdoor seating during the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Matt Laningham, manager of Switchback taco bar, can seat 25 people at his three picnic tables and two window-side tables made possible by his bump-out, and like other restaurateurs, he said that provides a real benefit in dealing with dining room limitations.<\/p>\n

Beyond his personal business interest, Laningham said, he thinks the downtown experience would be enhanced if the community ever could come together to agree to close at least a portion of Main Avenue in downtown to private cars.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d like to see Main limited to trolleys, horse-drawn carriages and bicycles,\u201d he said. \u201cYou could plant more trees, put in kids\u2019 playgrounds. You\u2019d eliminate a hazard with the cars. I think it would really enhance the atmosphere downtown.\u201d<\/p>\n

parmijo@durangoherald.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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