Ottawa music venues hoping for final reopening

Ottawa’s nightlife is ready for a revival with the return to full capacity.

“It’s awesome, I mean we’ve been waiting for this for a long time and actually there was a couple of times we thought we’d turned a corner but it just didn’t happen,” said Corey Mayville, Executive Director of the Bronson Centre.

Ontario lifted all indoor capacity limits Tuesday, a major change for nightclubs, music halls, theatres and arenas in the capital that had been operating at 50 per cent capacity since December and were often limited to even fewer people for much of the pandemic.

“Bronson Centre Music Theatre brings in a significant portion of revenue for us. To keep it affordable for our permanent tenants and not having those revenues has been extremely difficult to manage,” Mayville said.

The new guidelines are music to the ears of Abbis Mahmoud.

“It finally feels that I think we’re going to be open, and hopefully we’ll be open with no restrictions very, very soon,” he said.

Mahmoud is the owner of Dreammind Group, which controls a number of restaurants in the city as well as The Show nightclub. While most of his establishments reopened weeks ago, The Show is opening its doors this weekend for the first time since November.

“I can’t explain how exciting it is for us, for my staff. They’re getting a lot of phone calls from people who are wanting to come out, who have been locked in their houses for a while, and just have some fun and I think people really need it more than ever,” Mahmoud said.

Public health officials have said the timing is right to consider lifting restrictions, even as wastewater, cases, and hospitalizations in the capital show some signs of an uptick.

“We’re going to have more cases, more hospitalizations, but we’ve got room for that. That’s kind of baked into the plan. So I think we’re ready,” Dr. Doug Manuel, a senior scientist at the Ottawa Hospital said.

It is a message that business owners are hoping will reach customers after multiple re-openings, to varying degrees of success, over the last two years.

“Last time we opened, there was still a stigma about going out or trying to have a good time and you felt that. I think, this time, it’s different; I think people are dealing with it, we have to accept the fact that it’s here,” Mahmoud said.

“The passport thing is such a big deal because then everybody can be involved,” Mayville noted.

The province still has some restrictions in place, in particular the mask mandate, but health experts have cautioned that it too could be on its way out.

“I understand why they didn’t want to drop them at the same time they’re opening up the province, but I do think they should be dropped in short order; within the next couple of weeks,” Dr. Sumon Chakrabarti, an infectious diseases physician with the Trillium Health Network in Mississauga, said.

“Even if [masks have] a small effect, probably on a personal level, on a population level I don’t think it does anything appreciably to change the pandemic curve,” he added.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford said Tuesday the mask mandate could be lifted as soon as this month, possibly after March Break, but later said he did not want to put a date on it.

“There’s not a person I talk to that likes these masks, no one likes them, but we’re going to follow the advice [of the Chief Medical Officer of Health.] We aren’t far away,” Ford said.

VACCINATED SECTION

Trying to accomodate everyone's needs, the owner of Deacon Brodie's Pub on Elgin is offering a space for those not fully onboard with dropping the proof of vaccination policy.

Owner Ken Goodhue says there will be an area of the pub that is designated for vaccinated people, though the pub will not be checking QR codes.

"We are offering an area where, if you'd feel more comfortable knowing that the people around you have been vaccinated, then we have an area for you," said Goodhue. "We can't control ventilation, that's for certain, but at least we can give them a little more security by saying, 'Okay, nobody in this section has shown proof of vaccination in order to sit back here.' That, hopefully, will calm some of the concerns people have."

Some patrons, like Lyle Brooks, welcome the removal of the vaccine passport.

"I like that it's gone," said Brooks. "It doesn't bother me at all."

Others do think the QR codes should have stuck around a bit longer.

"The gentlemen I'm here with tonight are triple vaccinated, so i feel safe with them," said John McKay. "I'm not really comfortable being around people who I don't know are triple vaccinated."

McKay says he also has concerns about removing the mask mandate soon after getting rid of proof of vaccination policies.

"I'm a little bit fearful of whats going to happen if you don't check on people for vaccines in social settings and then we get rid of the mask," said McKay. "I guess we just have to trust the science."