Granville bars, businesses welcome World Cup pedestrian-only zone

A five-block stretch of Vancouver's Granville Street will be closed to cars during the FIFA World Cup this summer.

Recent times have been challenging on Granville Street, with plenty of business vacancies in the once-thriving entertainment hub.

The neighbourhood has been challenged by economics, along with issues of street disorder and crime.

“It’s been a really rough few years, especially since COVID, and there’s a number of operators who’ve just been hanging on for this FIFA opportunity,” said Nate Sabine, the director of business development at Blueprint, the parent company of Good Co. Bars, in an interview with CTV News on Wednesday.

With hundreds of thousands of people projected to come to Vancouver for the World Cup this summer, the city is closing five blocks Granville to cars and making it a pedestrian-only zone from June 11 to July 20.

The stretch between Georgia and Davie streets will feature extra patios, vendors and live music.

“For the duration of the FIFA World Cup, we’ll be transforming five blocks of Granville Street from Georgia to Davie to create a festival atmosphere that can be enjoyed by residents and visitors alike,” Vancouver Mayor Ken Sim said during a Wednesday news conference.

It’s welcome news to those in the hospitality industry.

“Last year was pretty sobering for people,” Sabine added. “This year, we have this to look forward to. We had a little bit of a bump last year with the Grey Cup, the Junos and things like this, but this is really the big one.”

That was echoed by William Donnellan with the IRL Group, the parent company of a number of Irish establishments including Donnellan’s Irish Pub on Granville.

“We’re going to be on the world stage, which is a bit scary, but I have no doubt that this going to be a very successful event and a huge boost to our local economy, which we most definitely need,” said Donnellan.

As of now, this pedestrian-only zone would just be a temporary situation during the tournament.

But that could change depending on how it goes.

“Our members have been heavily involved in the feedback through the Granville plan,” said Downtown Van president and CEO Jane Talbot.

“One of the things we heard loud and clear was that there was an interest, or there is an interest, in pedestrianization. But until we really see the street come together and turn around, it’s hard to visualize what that will actually look like.”

Buses that travel down Granville will be re-routed to Seymour and Howe streets while the no vehicle zone is in place.

The city is treating this World Cup pedestrian plan as a trial run as it looks to bring in its Granville Street plan over the next two decades.