‘Every day we lose customers’: Owners of Halifax wine bar say scaffolding is hurting business

The owners of Obladee in Halifax say scaffolding has affected their business for nearly two years.

The owners of a wine bar in downtown Halifax are fed up with the construction scaffolding that has surrounded their business for almost two years – and now they’re demanding the city do something about it.

Christian Rankin opened Obladee Wine Bar with his sister Heather in 2010. He said it’s a vibrant place to grab a glass of wine and a bite to eat after work, but many people don’t even know it’s there.

“The impact of this has been dramatic for us,” Rankin told CTV Atlantic.

“Every day we lose customers because they can’t see that we’re here, they don’t think that we’re open, or they’re turned off by the scaffolding, which, you know, we can totally understand; we’re in the experience business.”

The trouble started in June 2023 as Obladee was preparing to open its patio for the Canada Day weekend. Rankin said someone was walking by the business on Barrington Street when a piece of material fell from the building. The Halifax Regional Municipality closed the sidewalk and issued an order for the building owner to repair the building.

“In the meantime, while that work was happening – which was supposed to take place immediately – scaffolding was put around the building to protect pedestrians,” explained Rankin.

However, almost two years later, Rankin said very little work has been done and the scaffolding remains.

“We’ve been given no start date for the work that would allow the scaffolding to come down, and we’ve been given no end date for the work that would allow it to come down, so for us, it’s just totally unacceptable,” he said.

“We can’t conduct our business in this way, and it’s been going on for 21 months now.”

In addition to being an eyesore, Rankin said the scaffolding also prevents him from operating a patio during the summer months, when business is usually booming. He said Obladee has already lost two patio seasons and can’t afford to lose a third.

“It’s where most people make some money to get them through slower months and so that’s certainly true for us as well,” he said.

Rankin reached out to the building owner but said he received no indication the work would be completed, and the owner has since died.

Rankin also said he and his sister have repeatedly told the Halifax Regional Municipality the scaffolding is affecting their businesses and have urged the city to enforce the work order so the scaffolding can be removed.

However, he feels their concerns have fallen on deaf ears, so now he is calling HRM out on Obladee’s social media and asking the city to enforce a completion date of June 21 – just in time for patio season.

“We’ve used our social media reach to ask our community for help, to essentially provide some visibility to the problem that we’re having, and to provide some impetus for HRM to finally act and to make sure that the order that they’ve put in place here to fix the façade is acted on and is done quickly,” said Rankin.

“We haven’t been able to get HRM to do anything on our behalf in two years and we’re hoping that this is enough.”

If the scaffolding doesn’t come down before patio season, Rankin fears he may have to close after 15 years in business.

“It’s devastating. And I think for our employees, our suppliers, for the people of Halifax who have a relationship with the place, it’s tough,” he said.

“We just think it’s time for HRM to act now. They can make it happen and we need them to.”

CTV News reached out to HRM for comment Monday, but they failed to respond before the deadline. However, the city issued a statement on Tuesday.

“On July 24, 2023, the Halifax Regional Municipality issued an order to the property owner of 1600 Barrington Street to install scaffolding and a covered walkway as a safety measure to protect pedestrians from potential falling debris, due to concerns regarding the condition of the building’s façade. This action followed an incident in late June 2023 in which a piece of debris injured a passerby,” reads the statement.

“Staff from the municipality’s Planning & Development (P&D) team continue to maintain regular communication with the property owner regarding the order for building repairs, which was outlined in a municipal order issued in April 2024.”

According to the city, P&D staff requested an update on the structural engineer’s report, which was mandated by the municipality, last month.

To ensure the safety of residents, the city says the scaffolding will remain in place until further notice.

“Currently, no additional information is available regarding the matter. Questions about repairs or a potential timeline for construction would need to be directed to the point of contact for the property,” reads the statement from the city.

CTV News also reached out to representatives of the company that owns the building, but they also hadn’t responded by 4 p.m.

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