Quite frankly, living on Lake Harriet, directly across from the Rose Garden, I would love to walk down to the refractory and have lunch, but there is very little on the menu I would consider eating (although my dogs Lex and Lois like the ice cream cones). Now what I'm going to say will probably freak a whole lot of list people out, but, what they should have done was let purveyers serve wine and beer in a restricted area near the pavilion...just like we do with sidewalk cafes. Then smaller vendors like D'Amico, BLB and others would have made enough profit to justify undertaking a new venture. Dairy Queen bid on this contract because of economies of scale. They know how to run an operation like this and make a profit without
alcohol. Smaller local vendors need the extra revenue. That's why we almost always grant wine and beer licenses in the city, we understand you need that to make a profit.
Lisa -
I think you make several excellent points here. Including wine or beer sales would not only add ambience to the Parks, but would help local, smaller businesses afford to engage in creative ventures. Sidewalk cafes could do so much to enhance the quality of our parks in many ways. I wonder, too, if creative partnerships between various local establishments such as D'Amico, BLB, and Ecopolitan might be possible.
In addition, with local business people, nonprofit project leaders such as Youth Farm to Market, and Park Board people doing some planning, many seasonal events could be planned which might very well be great on many levels:
-enriching our experience of the parks and concessions with unique festivals, food offerings, and learning experiences
-educating young people about growing, preparing, and presenting wonderful foods (I still believe some terrific youth in our city could be inspired to become urban or regional organic farmers, restaraunt entrepreneurs, and who knows, maybe very successful business people as they grow!)
-providing the Parks with a break-even possibility - or even a modest income...
I think we need to consider these three elementrs of this issue: 1) the Park experience for locals and visitors; 2) taking advantage of the Park food concessions as learning experiences for the youth of our city; 3) financial benefits to the park system.
Both Lisa and Kim make thoughtful points here - keep listening, Annie!
-Gary Hoover
Kingfield
Ward 10
(Kim Bartmann responded to Lisa:
Thanks to lisa mcdonald for mentioning BLB along with d'amico. I'd love to
see a little patio on the lake where I could have some rose wine and a nice
snack, and that would definitely make a 'concession' more able to make a
profit. On the other hand, as we say in just about any business, "location,
location, location". I can't imagine not being able to support a space
actually on lake harriet with the right mix of espresso, ice cream, and some
sandwiches or other edible, healthy, food. And profit is nice, but not
always necessary. Monies made could be put back into the project itself. As
a local business owner who would hate to see a major corporation running the
concessions at the lakes or any other publicly help property (like schools),
I'd be happy to be part of some business-persons committee to take a look at
the potential of the site and develop some sort of plan by which, say, a
youth group could operate the concessions with some assistance. (SCORE could
be one place to look) I was 27 and had no experience or money when I opened
my first concession stand, and it did just fine. I'm sure with a fresh look
at the possibilities by community members and a few local business owners
the lakes can retain their nostalgic ice cream stands, and the park board
could probably make a little money too.)
