Restaurants, theatres prepare for first round of reopening on Monday

The Ontario government will start lifting the province out of its latest lockdown on Monday.

Restaurants, movie theatres, meeting rooms, and event spaces will be allowed to reopen at 50 per cent capacity. Sports venues and concert halls will also reopen at 50 percent capacity or at a limit of 500 people, whichever is less.

At On The Rocks in Calabogie, Ont., a restaurant that just opened on the shores of Calabogie Lake last summer, they're ready to welcome diners back inside and get into a business-as-usual rhythm.

"We've had just takeout like usual during the lockdown," says Steefan Gustafson, general manager at On The Rocks. "Then this opportunity came up and we just jumped on it."

Gustafson is referring to the intense cold and snow that blanketed the region in recent weeks. With their patio completely snowed over, the restaurant dug tables and bar tops out of the snow to create a "polar bar", which has brought them new income during the last week of the lockdown.

"I think people just want to get out and about, and as you can see from our scenery it's a great place to do it," says Gustafson, acknowledging the view of the mountains across the lake. "We've had people coming from Montreal, people coming from Ottawa, it's just been great."

Another pressure set to be lifted off understaffed restaurants is that of contact tracing when indoor dining returns Jan. 31. Gustafson says when Monday arrives, On The Rocks plans to keep their winter patio open to maximize revenue.

"We're still going to be at 50 per cent on the inside," says Gustafson. "So by having this opportunity, it's kind of like having a fifth room in a house. We can take advantage of it, our guests can take advantage of it."

Another boost Monday will be the return of movie theatres, with guests once again allowed to consume food and drink while enjoying a show.

Before movie theatres were completely shut down in January and food and drink could not be sold to moviegoers, Kevin Marshall, owner of the O'Brien Theatre in Arnprior, says it actually cost him money to put on a movie without snack bar revenue.

"The percentage of income from the snack bar, it's about 50 per cent of the overall gross," Marshall tells CTV News. "But it's actually about 80 per cent of our actual profit."

For the past month, locals have supported the theatre by purchasing popcorn as a takeout option. But before the lockdown, Marshall says the attraction of going to the movies without popcorn fell drastically.

"There was people coming in saying, 'Hmm, can't buy popcorn? No, not going to watch it here,'" remarks Marshall. "So we know that it affected us hugely."

Monday marks the first of three reopening steps for Ontario. The province plans for another round of restrictions to lift on Feb. 21, and then again March 14 barring any drastic changes in the pandemic.