Morgantown is getting its first dining parklet.
WV Living magazine is excited to announce that Morgantown will have its first locally designed dining parklet. Our Publisher and Editor Nikki Bowman Mills and Michael Mills, principal of Mills Group, spearheaded and coordinated a community effort to organize, design, and fabricate dining parklets for High Street. After meeting with city officials, the West Virginia Department of Highways, Morgantown Parking Authority, and area restaurants, Mills Group created a master plan for outside dining parklets that follow the state’s mandated restaurant seating guidelines.
“I’m very excited about this opportunity that will reinvigorate our historic downtown commercial district by enhancing our streetscape for the benefit of the public,” says Michael Mills. “Our first pilot parklet will be located near the corner of Pleasant and High Street, serving the Tin 202 restaurant.”
Using its social media following, New South Media promoted the idea, generating and gauging interest. “Community change happens when people come together to find a solution to a problem and then create an action plan to make it happen. And that’s what we did,” says Bowman Mills, owner of New South Media, publisher of WV Living, Morgantown, Wonderful West Virginia, and WV Weddings magazines. “Our publications are community builders, and it is our mission to help champion our small businesses not just through words, but also through action.”
The duo approached Central Supply Company, which agreed to donate concrete walls that will serve as a protective barrier for the pilot location on south High Street. They are reaching out to other local suppliers and vendors to further enhance the project.
A WV Living Al Fresco fundraising event will be held in the pilot location at Tin 202 on Friday, June 5, and Saturday, June 6. “During this two-day inaugural event, folks can reserve a two-hour dining spot for a $50 reservation fee. They’ll receive a commemorative and keepsake menu that will feature a painting of the Brock, Reed & Wade Building on High Street by artist Micheal Doig commissioned by Mills Group. All proceeds will go to funding the next High Street dining parklet project. Reservations will go live on June 2.”
For more information, please contact Nikki Bowman Mills at nikki@newsouthmediainc.com.
UPDATE
A WV Living Al Fresco fundraising event was held in the pilot location at Tin 202 on Friday, June 5, and Saturday, June 6. “During this two-day inaugural event, folks can reserve a two-hour dining spot. Patrons receive a commemorative and keepsake menu that featured a painting of the Brock, Reed & Wade Building on High Street by artist Micheal Doig commissioned by Mills Group. All proceeds will go to funding the next High Street dining parklet project. Efforts are underway to create an outdoor dining area at Iron Horse on South High Street, and a third outdoor dining parklet is in the works.
updated on June 9, 2020
David says
Good luck with all of the addicts roaming around saturating this town from one end to the other.
Savannah Carr says
We can all be driven out of our downtown out of an unwillingness to address things we don’t like, or we can enjoy downtown the way we all want to and create a dialog for addressing challenges that arise in council chambers and in the media.