{"id":53737,"date":"2020-05-25T16:22:17","date_gmt":"2020-05-25T22:22:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/durango-restaurants-can-reopen-wednesday-but-will-they\/"},"modified":"2020-05-25T22:22:17","modified_gmt":"2020-05-25T22:22:17","slug":"durango-restaurants-can-reopen-wednesday-but-will-they","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/durango-restaurants-can-reopen-wednesday-but-will-they\/","title":{"rendered":"Durango restaurants can reopen Wednesday, but will they?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"Durango\u2019s
Durango\u2019s restaurants will be allowed to reopen Wednesday after Gov. Jared Polis announced new regulations Monday. Here, Ryan Lowe, owner of the Ore House, checks the temperature of one of his chefs, Jack Roberts, on April 15 as they prepare meals for \u201cFeed the Frontlines.\u201d<\/span>Jerry McBride\/Durango Herald file<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Durango\u2019s restaurants can reopen for dine-in service Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Gov. Jared Polis announced Monday restaurants across the state can reopen after being closed for more than two months to in-person dining, so long as they follow a number of guidelines aimed at slowing the spread of the coronavirus.<\/p>\n

Up until now, restaurants have been able to offer only curbside pickup and delivery.<\/p>\n

\u201cColoradans value our diverse culinary scene and amazing restaurants, and I\u2019m proud that our state is now providing science-based guidelines on how restaurants can open as safely as reasonably possible for their employees and customers,\u201d Polis said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe safest thing anyone can do is stay home whenever possible, but for those who want to shop and dine, we want to make sure it can be done as safely as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

The state\u2019s requirements for restaurant operation include:<\/p>\n

Restaurants must limit the number of customers to 50% of capacity and not exceed 50 people. <\/em>Groups will be limited to a maximum of eight people. <\/em>Tables must be spaced 6 feet apart. <\/em>Staff members must wear face coverings. <\/em>Disposable menus must be used. <\/em>Restrooms must be cleaned every hour.<\/em>Monday\u2019s announcement, which came on a federal holiday, left local health officials scrambling to prepare for restaurants to reopen Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Liane Jollon, executive director of San Juan Basin Public Health, said the agency doesn\u2019t expect to make adjustments to the state guidelines, but it will be difficult to educate restaurants on such short notice if they want to reopen Wednesday.<\/p>\n

To prepare for retail stores to reopen, SJBPH created a self-certification process to help owners understand all the new regulations. The health department hoped to have the same for restaurants, but likely won\u2019t in time for Wednesday.<\/p>\n

As a result, Jollon said SJBPH will allow restaurants to reopen Wednesday under a \u201cgrace period\u201d until the health department can create the self-certification process.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know businesses are anxious to get back to work,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

David Woodruff, president of the Colorado Restaurant Association\u2019s Durango chapter and manger of El Moro Spirits and Tavern, also said the short time frame might make it hard for restaurants to reopen Wednesday.<\/p>\n

But, he said after more than two months of being shutdown, Monday\u2019s announcement was good news.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt puts everyone in a pickle to have to make these decisions on the fly,\u201d he said. \u201cBut, hey, at least we\u2019re able to reopen.\u201d<\/p>\n

The question that looms for most restaurant owners is whether the state\u2019s regulations make reopening cost-prohibitive.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s for each business to decide,\u201d he said. \u201cHopefully, they see if 50% can work. For a lot, it won\u2019t work. But it will for some.\u201d<\/p>\n

Woodruff said the regulations have some \u201cgive and take.\u201d The state reduced from 8 feet to 6 feet the space between tables, which was a win, he said. But the cap at 50% capacity or 50 people was a setback.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope that everyone that\u2019s able to can open,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Calls to several restaurants were not returned Monday. Many other businesses were closed for the Memorial Day holiday.<\/p>\n

Gabriel Harrington, assistant manager at Bird\u2019s, said the restaurant plans to reopen Wednesday, but with an emphasis on outside dining.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re just trying to make it super casual and fun,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

As part of Polis\u2019 announcement, bars will remain closed and re-evaluated in June.<\/p>\n

Children\u2019s day camps and youth sport camps can reopen June 1. And private campsites can reopen.<\/p>\n

Also, Polis said ski areas may reopen with approval from local authorities.<\/p>\n

Dave Rathbun, general manager of Purgatory Resort, said he hopes to open for the summer season June 20.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was shocked the governor actually announced it during the day instead of 10:30 at night,\u201d he said. \u201cSo we\u2019ll take a look at it (the new guidelines).\u201d<\/p>\n

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

State\u2019s regulations could be cost-prohibitive for some<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":53738,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[685,819,450,686],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-53737","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-coronavirus-covid-19","tag-gov-jared-polis","tag-restaurant-and-catering","tag-san-juan-basin-health-department"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53737","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53737"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53737\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53738"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53737"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53737"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53737"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=53737"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}