SPOKANE, Wash. – After what feels like an eternity of having doors close across at Spokane, restaurants are slowly starting to reopen.
Several months ago at Mizuna, there was a sign on the window that said “closed indefinitely,” and starting today, the sign will read “open” once again.
Starting this evening the doors are back open and they will be resuming operation, opened on a modified schedule and they are taking reservations.
Business owners across Spokane say that the last week was a step in the right direction.
Christy Belisle, the owner of Frank Diner and The Onion, said they have been feeling the pinch and being reopen this last week is a baby step that they need.
“[We have been] feeling the pinch for about 355 days or so,” Belisle said. “Moving forward we’re excited for Phase 3, we positioning ourselves to be as flexible as we need to be… we’re excited to keep moving forward.”
Belisle said she’s still in the dark about what Phase 3 will look like or when we’ll get to 50% capacity, but said she’s happy to do her part so that other businesses can reopen.
Now, business owners heard time and time again from the Mayor Nadine Woodward’s office that Spokane needs to be involved in the conversation when it comes to reopening.
But what does that look like?
The mayor’s office said these are the three main points the mayors focused on in the reopening conversation.
Talk about the unique needs of communities that border another state with very different guidanceEngage industry experts about what is needed to protect their employees and customersApply what we have learned from our many successful partnerships with public health
The mayor’s office said Woodward’s efforts are all about increasing statewide collaboration, engaging industry experts and using what we’ve learned over the past year about safe practices.
As an initial step, Woodward is talking to the governor’s office about ways Spokane and eastern Washington can be part of the conversation that will define phases in the healthy Washington plan.
We know that request to be part of the conversation was received very positively.
