Normally Lumsden鈥檚 arty A-framed Centennial Hall is bustling with weddings, karate and seniors getting in their workouts.
Thanks to the fickle, deadly coronavirus, the building is to remain empty, cleaving a growing hole in the town鈥檚 budget. New lockdown measures imposed by the provincial government for the Regina area start Sunday.
The town 20 minutes north of the Queen City is in the mix. The restrictions say indoor event venues and halls like Lumsden鈥檚 wood-clad communal hub 鈥渁re not permitted to operate,鈥� if they have 30-person limits.
Mayor Bryan Matheson said, 鈥淲e are usually filled with weddings every weekend in our hall. All of our community groups use space in the hall.鈥�
Premier Scott Moe鈥檚 government announced the lockdown measures Tuesday as an attempt to curtail viral spread of COVID-19鈥檚 variant strains in and around the capital.
The affected area includes Balgonie, Belle Plaine, Craven, Davin, Edenwold, Grand Coullee, Gray, Kronau, Lumsden, Lumsden Beach, Pense, Pilot Butte, Regina Beach, Riceton and White City. The RMs of Edenwold, Lajord, Lumsden, Pense and Sherwood are included, too.
In Lumsden, Matheson said the unused community hall won鈥檛 be anything new once the lockdown starts; it just means another disincentive for people to book it.
鈥淔or the past year now we鈥檝e basically had nothing."
2020 rental revenue for the hall dropped by 54 per cent from the year prior, a loss of $29,225.
The mayor said people in Lumsden are disappointed but not surprised by the new lockdown. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e concerned and they鈥檙e wondering about how long it鈥檚 going to last.鈥�
For now the measures are to end April 5, when they鈥檙e to be reviewed.
Down the road in Craven, mayor Scott Montgomery said the village had to refund a wedding party its rental money for the Elk鈥檚 Hall, because it recently cancelled.
He said residents are 鈥減retty understanding鈥� over the new measures. 鈥淭here鈥檚 not a whole lot you can do about it. That鈥檚 the thing with all of us: We鈥檙e kind of used to putting up with things you can鈥檛 deal with, like the music festival."
East of Regina in White City, restaurant owner Joel Kish expects he鈥檒l have to lay off three staff members at the Ice House, come Sunday.
The burger and beer joint will be forced to do only delivery and food-pick-up service.
He commended his staff members for shouldering some of the pandemic鈥檚 extreme stressors over the past year. 鈥淚t sucks for them and they know it. But they know it sucks for everybody.鈥�
Kish said food sales have taken a 30-per-cent hit, while liquor sales have dropped 50 per cent over the last year.
His restaurant is now serving 11 tables. It has capacity for 28.
He thinks the newest lockdown measures, which don鈥檛 include retail stores, are too narrow in scope.
鈥淚 bet you a lot more people are getting COVID from the shopping carts at Wal-Mart, Costco and Superstore, than they are from the restaurants,鈥� he said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 lots of more at-risk places than sitting at a table in a restaurant.鈥�
