Graham, Donna
From: Gary Wingate <i
Sent: Wednesday, March 02, 2022 3:44 PM
To: Board of Aldermen
Ce: Graham, Donna
Subject: Fwd: Downtown barriers
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Subject: Downtown barriers
My name is Gary Wingate from Wingate’s Pharmacy at 129 Main St., Nashua. I have worked
there since 1984, and am part of a family business which has been an intrinsic part of the Nashua
community since its beginning on January Ist, 1900, which was started by my great grandfather,
Frank Homer Wingate, 122 years ago.
The purpose of my letter is to express:
1) 1 am in favor of outdoor dining with the tables and chairs directly in front of the restaurant’ s
boundaries, with enough room for pedestrian traffic, made easier with the expanded sidewalk
project.
2) I am against the “extended” outdoor dining which eliminates our parking spaces, both regular
and handicapped, and is “crowded out” by Jersey barriers and filled with tables and chairs,
therefore “taking” our customer and freight parking.
3) I am also against the two lane traffic, which causes chaotic traffic flows, and unsafe travel
lanes for emergency vehicles, as mentioned by Fire Chief Rhodes and Police Chief Rourke at the
Infrastructure meeting on December 8th, and from the former chair of the Nashua Fire
Commission, and former co-director of Emergency Management for the city of Nashua, Ed
Lecius.
We have formed a very concerned group of business owners, which we will call the “Block”. It
consists of a common message and sentiments as listed above. They include the Print Factory,
Wingates Pharmacy, Cardin’s Jewelers, Chucks Barber Shop, Avard’s, Corriveau Insurance,
Alphagraphics, Subzero Ice Cream, and Darrell’s Music Hall.
We have politely showed up and spoken at public comments four or five times at Aldermanic
meetings, Infrastructure meetings and parking survey meetings. As fellow downtown business
owners, we like and are friends with the restaurant owners. We often eat there and do take out,
and supported them with the “extended” emergency dining situation in 2020, legitimized by the
uncertainty of the Covid virus. However, we were taken by surprise and did not support the
barriers being up for 2021, and even the consideration of having them for 2022.
We are often told by some of the city decision makers at these meetings that we are “in the
minority” and have “contaminated language”. So, the Block decided to take action and explore
the sentiments of the business owners by visiting stores from Sky Market to PRG Rugs. It’s was
unanimous that owners, employees and customers were not only against the “extended dining”
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