Breckenridge’s Walkable Main, a pedestrian-only Main Street concept, opened for business on Friday. The street closed down at 6 a.m. on Thursday and by Friday restaurants were seating customers at outdoor tables in their designated 10-by-34-foot sections of the street. Retail businesses were able to place their merchandise outside on a table, shelving or a rack and could accompany their setups with a mannequin and a sandwich board sign.
Walking around Main Street Saturday afternoon, there were people out and about, but aside from the live music performances that were going on at the Riverwalk Center, the street was still fairly quiet as the day wound down. People spaced out across the lawn and on the riverbank watched and listened to performances, which will continue to take place Wednesdays through Sundays and will be put on by local musicians, storytellers and performance artists as well as National Repertory Orchestra quartets.
Breckenridge Mayor Eric Mamula, who owns the restaurant Downstairs at Erics, said he had been busy all day on Saturday until it rained later at night and that people were enjoying the setup. While people were concerned about rain early on in the planning process of Walkable Main, Mamula said things ran pretty smoothly at his restaurant when rain hit, as everything was just quickly brought inside.
“So far, it seems like we may be on the right track,” Mamula said.
As for the town’s mask ordinance, which requires facial coverings to be worn when physical distancing cannot be maintained, Mamula said it feels like an “uphill battle.” He said there were a fair amount of people on the town’s narrow sidewalks with no mask evident
Teryn Guadagnoli, owner of Modis restaurant, also said she’s seeing people enjoy Walkable Main. She said that a few of the shop owners who were hesitant about the idea seemed okay with it now that Walkable Main is up and running.
The town only extended individual restaurant’s liquor licenses to their specific patio area, meaning alcoholic beverages can only be drunk on patios that have been bought from the restaurant operating that patio. She also noted that trying to navigate people bringing dogs and wanting to sit with them on the patio has been an issue. Guadagnoli said that the restaurant has had to remind people to wear their facial coverings and explain to people why this is a rule
