05_V1_WAT_Sep28 85 BRIDGEPORT RD. E. WATERLOO (Across from the Bridgeport Rd. Plaza) Since 1971 519-893-8118 MON., TUES., WED. 10 AM - 6 PM THURS., FRI. 10 AM - 8 PM SATURDAY 9 AM - 5 PM SUNDAY 12 PM - 4 PM Design your own sofa, loveseat or sectional available in both fabric & leather Choose from hundreds of Configurations and style options! available in both fabriC & leather Visit our clearance centre and saVe 30-70% on selected items!! Tickets only $46! 1-855-372-9866 or buy 24/7 at draytonentertainment.com OCT 18 - NOV 4 ST. JACOBS COUNTRY PLAYHOUSE By Arthur Miller Directed by���� ������� TV star George Wendt (Norm on Cheers) takes on the role of Willy Loman, a struggling salesman who cannot understand how he failed to achieve his dreams of success and happiness. Don't miss this Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-Winning masterpiece touted as one of the greatest plays of the 20th century. Family Owned & Operated with 30 Years Experience. - Hardwood - Engineered Hardwood - Laminate - Porcelain - Carpet - Tile & Stone - Resiliant Many brands, styles & colours to choose from! When Quality & Service MatterS Call for a free estimate & Visit our showroom today! 2-500 Bingemans Centre Dr. (across from Bingemans Park) 519-570-0008 • nealysflooring.com Mon. - Fri. 9:00am - 6:00pm, Sat. 10:00am - 4:00pm, Closed Sunday www.nealysflooring.com Thursday, September 28, 2017 • WATERLOO CHRONICLE • 5Serving your community since 1856 Continued from page 4 "We want to let people know what the implications of an extension are going to be because, while it sounds great right away, there's a lot of knock- on effects from that. "In the end, landlords and their tenants are in partnership one way or the other, because if this drives the business under it doesn't help you as a landlord." In the meantime, Sonia Adyls, who has been running the historic Huether Hotel for the last 60 years with her family said this is the worst stretch of business they've ever seen. The 1,000-seat venue is lucky to draw 500 patrons on weekends during one of the busiest times of the year -- back to school -- and people are cancelling reserva- tions because they are having a hard time accessing the site due to construction. "I'm scared," said Adyls, who has seen other King Street infra- structure projects, including the ripping up of old rail ties in 1997, but has never seen the customer traffic so bad. "The city and the region have a lot of intelligent people working there, they all have university degrees, but none of them have ever run a business. "Why wasn't there a better plan? Why didn't they realize that if customers don't have the convenience to go into a place they'll go elsewhere? It takes many years to have clientele to have confidence in your food and service, and we've been running for years trying to keep customers happy. As I'm com- ing to the end when everything should be good, it's the worst ever." It has got so bad they've stopped lunch service at the once popular Lion Brewery res- taurant in the basement of the hotel. "No server wants to stand down there and look at the walls for eight hours when there are no customers coming," said Adyls. They are also one of the origi- nal craft breweries in town and have seen business dry up along with the traffic. "Our parking lot is completely empty in both places," said Adyls. "You can't even get into our parking lot on King Street." The city tried to pro- vide parking permits for the Huether's employees at the old post office parking lot on Regina Street, but the tags they were given were only good until Sept. 1. That's left them in limbo, and when employees tried to park next to the brewery they were recently ticketed by city bylaw staff. Adyls said municipal officials haven't prepared for the all the contingencies while the busi- nesses continue to suffer. And every day she watches two hours of work wasted as the construc- tion crews assemble and reas- semble the safety fencing from the night before or prepare it for overnight access. "They said this work was going to be done in stages," said Adyls. "It just looks like one big mess now." She said she's heard city and regional officials say they are going to get the construction ramped up, but they said noth- ing about delaying the $30,000 property tax instalment she had to pay in September. "Where do they think the money comes from?" she said. "Are these chairs bringing any money in, or downstairs? "Where is this money sup- posed to come from if I don't have customers?" Zavitz said they will be sur- veying UpTown BIA members whether they want a construc- tion hiatus over the next year. They're still pushing for con- struction to wrap up sooner this season. "As long as people are aware that there are big fences around the core, a certain per- centage are just avoiding the area and are waiting for it to be done," said Zavitz. BIA looking for consensus on 2018