I caught up to Alex Munro today to ask him about the city’s proposal to ban smoking on restaurant patios. I was particularly interested in his thoughts since he’s the VP of the Heart and Crown Irish Pubs group, which owns James Street Pub, at the corner of Bank St. in Centretown.
I have been a customer of the pub and noticed the patio is incredibly popular with smokers. For whatever reason, it seems there’s more smoking happening on that patio than any other in the neighbourhood. Munro agreed the patio is a magnet for smokers and he suggested there’s a high demographic of blue-collar workers who come to the pub.
Smokers, Munro said, are the “lifeline” of that particular pub. He suggested the city’s no-smoking proposal for patios could sink the establishment completely.
Of course, we don’t really know what’s going to happen until the bylaw comes into force and the summer hits. But I can see how Munro would be concerned about patrons smoking on the sidewalk and leaning over the railing for a sip of their drinks. Liquor inspectors would certainly swoop in.
As an aside, talking to Munro also gave me the opportunity to ask him about rumours that the pub was being turned into condos. The rumours, as it turns out, were true, but Munro said those plans have been shelved. The idea was to keep the pub on the ground floor of a condo building.
