Sidewalk construction forces Wolseley cafe to close

The owner of a small cafe in the heart of Wolseley is planning to shutter the business permanentlybecause he can't see an end tosidewalk construction directly outside.

RossJeffers, owner of1958, said the construction has prevented him from opening hiscafe fornearly two weeks.

Earlier this summer, Jeffers received aletter notifying himcrews would be resurfacing the back lane behind his comfort foodrestaurant on Westminster Avenue and Chestnut Street.

Then, unexpectedly, crews began digging up the sidewalk directly in front of 1958 leaving behind a nearly two-foot drop outside his entrance.

"If somebody were to fall going in or out that's going to be problematic for me," he said.

The City of Winnipeg said in an email to CBC it "understands that construction work can be disruptive to residents and area businesses and we work to minimize the impact as much as possible."The city says Jeffers was notified about the project and given a timeline as well as contact information for "consultants" involved in the project.

The drop is significant enough that Jeffers said he is struggling to use the entrance himself. Nearly two weeks ago he made the difficult decision to close temporarily until the work is completed, he said.

"All I can do is hope that this gets finished in a timely fashion," he said.

"We need day-to-day income to survive . We have utility bills, we have rent. If we're not open there's no revenue coming in."

Would the city do this in front of a big box store? We all know the answer.- RossJeffers

The cafe1958 is zoned commercial as a take-out restaurantand seats exactly 10 people.

Jefferssaid the business relies on regular customers who come week after week for eggs benedict on weekends andsandwiches on weekdays.

"Our community has been overwhelmingly supportive of me," saidJeffers. City officials, on the otherhandare a different story, he said.

Small business gets no respect

Jeffers hascontacted Mayor Brian Bowman'soffice and his city councillor Cindy Gilroy. He said crews have notoffered to install a temporary step up to his entrance nor have city officials answered hisrequests forfinancial compensation.

Along with losses from being closed for nearly two weeks, Jeffers said his walls have cracksfrom construction vibration.

"We're so small and insignificant it doesn't matter we're inWolseley. We're not getting a lot of respect," he said.

"Would the city do this in front of a big box store? We all know the answer."

While Jefferssaid he appreciated the improvements to the back lane,the city could have done a better job notifying him ahead of time of the sidewalk work and giving him asense of when it would be completed.

In two weeks, if the sidewalk is still dug up, he said he will have to closehis cafe for good.

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