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Village at the Peaks seeking ways to draw people back as COVID restrictions loosen

The goal of events such as Drive-In Bingo is to bring people back to the Village at the Peaks and counter the decline in sales businesses have seen since statewide restrictions were put in place in March. Speaking anonymously, staff members at Village at the Peaks businesses expressed concern about the volume of sales, saying they have yet to meet even half of the numbers seen on a busy night last summer.

Before the onset of the COVID-19 crisis turned social gathering upside down, Longmont’s Village at the Peaks was doing it’s best to provide a place for area residents to come together for food, movies and live music. A quick glance at the event listings from this time last year is a reminder of weekly outdoor concerts and a variety of other events that are difficult or impossible to return to with restrictions in place to help flatten the curve of the pandemic. That, however, hasn’t stopped people from wanting some facsimile of the normalcy of last summer, or getting creative with gatherings that adhere to those restrictions.

Friday marked the second Drive-In Bingo session at the Village at the Peaks complex off Hover Avenue. At $5 a car, it is a socially distant opportunity for some family oriented fun. The bingo game is played weekly at 6 p.m. Fridays in the parking lot between Wyatt’s Wet Goods and Gold’s Gym. In addition, Tuesday nights beginning at 7:30 p.m, Gold’s Gym and Sound Off Colorado offer a free, socially distant sunset yoga class on the lawn of the Village at the Peaks complex, complete with sanitized headphones that allow participants to hear the music and instructor.

Outdoor seating for Village at the Peaks has been extended to accommodate guests wanting to continue dining out, particularly in the communal space in the courtyard shared by restaurants like Bad Daddy’s Burger Bar, Parry’s Pizza, and Next Door American Eatery. The Boulder County public health order requiring face masks is still in effect, and restaurants ask that guests comply with the mandate while moving about within businesses, such as when waiting for tables or going to the bathroom.

The goal of events such as Drive-In Bingo is to bring people back to the Village at the Peaks and counter the decline in sales businesses have seen since statewide restrictions were put in place in March. Speaking anonymously, staff members at Village at the Peaks businesses expressed concern about the volume of sales, saying they have yet to meet even half of the numbers seen on a busy night last summer. Additionally, they shared concerns about health and safety as the community navigates the pandemic and ways to protect those most at-risk for the virus. 

Longmont is the second-largest municipality in Boulder County, and has the second-highest number of cases in Boulder County at approximately 550 confirmed cases as of Friday, per Boulder County Public Health statistics.

Nick Luna, a manager at Parry’s Pizza was hopeful about the future, at least for his establishment. 

“I’ve been doing this 20-plus years, and we’ve never seen anything like this happen. I know it’s hurt a lot of smaller businesses, but we’re only down 20% sales for the year,” he said. “We’re still doing just as much in delivery and DoorDash. We’re blessed that we all still had jobs.”