CARES Funding Expands Patios Downtown – Ten55 Brewing

(HED) Outdoor seating, ‘Thirst for good beer’ helped brewery keep suds flowing

Things had picked up for Ten55 Brewing Company by early 2020. The brew pub and restaurant opened their downtown Tucson location in late 2018 to a steady flow of craft beer drinkers after five years of operating a brewery and small taproom at a southside industrial complex.

“It was very important for us to be part of this downtown revitalization,” said Chris Squires, part-owner of Ten55, located at 110 E. Congress St.

But just as things were coming together, COVID hit and like many other businesses, their world changed. In addition to the growing fear of illness and uncertainty, state and local regulations greatly reduced the capacity to operate.

COVID safety protocols had limited indoor food and drink service capacities to help reduce the spread of the virus while allowing businesses to still operate. To help make up for the limited indoor capacity, Pima County and the city of Tucson amended rules that allowed restaurants and bars to utilize outdoor spaces like sidewalks and parking lots for seating.

In addition, Downtown Tucson Partnership administered a Downtown Outdoor Café Grant Program, thanks to funding from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act Coronavirus Relief Fund (CARES CRF), to help businesses build, expand, or enhance their outdoor dining areas. The program allowed businesses to receive up to $5,000 to help pay the costs of installation for the expanded dining spaces.

Ten55 was an early participant in the program, which Pima County spearheaded with the help of the Downtown Tucson Partnership.

“It was enormously important,” Squires said. “Outdoor seating has been king.”

The brewery took over three on-street parking spaces on Congress and installed permanent seating options, closed off from traffic and covered to protect from weather. The outdoor seating added enough space for 24 additional diners.

“It’s right there on the street. You can’t get a much more urban feel in Tucson,” Squires said.

While the outdoor seating program was intended as an emergency effort to assist ailing eateries and bars, the program has in some ways helped to change the look and feel of downtown Tucson.

Numerous bars and restaurants in the downtown area have taken advantage of the temporary regulations designed to increase capacities to expand into sidewalks and parking spaces. Some of these are as easy as installing simple barricades around tables and chairs to the more substantial and permanent structures like those Ten55 built.

The impact has been to lend a more urban, big city aesthetic to downtown – with cafes and bars filling the outdoor spaces.

“I think it could really set Tucson apart,” Squires said, adding that Tucson’s climate allows for nearly year-round outdoor dining.  

After nearly two years of COVID-related limitations and service-hour reductions, Ten55 has begun creeping back toward normal operations. But like many businesses, Ten55 isn’t completely out of the woods yet.

“We are still living in a 60 percent world in terms of sales,” he said, adding later that community support has been heartening. “It’s a testament to the thirst for good beer in southern Arizona.”

(HED) Outdoor seating, ‘Thirst for good beer’ helped brewery keep suds flowing

Things had picked up for Ten55 Brewing Company by early 2020. The brew pub and restaurant opened their downtown Tucson location in late 2018 to a steady flow of craft beer drinkers after five years of operating a brewery and small taproom at a southside industrial complex.

“It was very important for us to be part of this downtown revitalization,” said Chris Squires, part-owner of Ten55, located at 110 E. Congress St.

But just as things were coming together, COVID hit and like many other businesses, their world changed. In addition to the growing fear of illness and uncertainty, state and local regulations greatly reduced the capacity to operate.

COVID safety protocols had limited indoor food and drink service capacities to help reduce the spread of the virus while allowing businesses to still operate. To help make up for the limited indoor capacity, Pima County and the city of Tucson amended rules that allowed restaurants and bars to utilize outdoor spaces like sidewalks and parking lots for seating.

In addition, Downtown Tucson Partnership administered a Downtown Outdoor Café Grant Program, thanks to funding from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act Coronavirus Relief Fund (CARES CRF), to help businesses build, expand, or enhance their outdoor dining areas. The program allowed businesses to receive up to $5,000 to help pay the costs of installation for the expanded dining spaces.

Ten55 was an early participant in  the program, which Pima County spearheaded with the help of the Downtown Tucson Partnership.

“It was enormously important,” Squires said. “Outdoor seating has been king.”

The brewery took over three on-street parking spaces on Congress and installed permanent seating options, closed off from traffic and covered to protect from weather. The outdoor seating added enough space for 24 additional diners.

“It’s right there on the street. You can’t get a much more urban feel in Tucson,” Squires said.

While the outdoor seating program was intended as an emergency effort to assist ailing eateries and bars, the program has in some ways helped to change the look and feel of downtown Tucson.

Numerous bars and restaurants in the downtown area have taken advantage of the temporary regulations designed to increase capacities to expand into sidewalks and parking spaces. Some of these are as easy as installing simple barricades around tables and chairs to the more substantial and permanent structures like those Ten55 built.

The impact has been to lend a more urban, big city aesthetic to downtown – with cafes and bars filling the outdoor spaces.

“I think it could really set Tucson apart,” Squires said, adding that Tucson’s climate allows for nearly year-round outdoor dining.  

After nearly two years of COVID-related limitations and service-hour reductions, Ten55 has begun creeping back toward normal operations. But like many businesses, Ten55 isn’t completely out of the woods yet.

“We are still living in a 60 percent world in terms of sales,” he said, adding later that community support has been heartening. “It’s a testament to the thirst for good beer in southern Arizona.”