The Belly Up Aspen owner on Thursday told members of the Pitkin County Board of Health he’s committed to ensuring that 80% of his customers each night will be vaccinated.
Financial and industry data for the first quarter of 2020 aren’t exactly a portrayal of a thriving local retail economy, but they also show that a recovery is in motion.
A report issued Monday by the city of Aspen’s finance department was a mixed bag. It showed the hardest hit retail sectors January-through-March were restaurants and accommodations, with their respective sales totals respectively down 27.1% and 27% from the same three months in 2020. On the brighter side, of the 12 other industries tracked by city, 10 saw sales increases in this year’s first quarter over January through March 2020, the report showed.
“While sales are pacing even with quarter 1 of 2020 in total, the city’s two largest industries accommodations and restaurants continue to lag behind, each down about 27% to date, and are being offset by the recoveries experienced in other industries,” wrote Anthony Lewin, who is the city of Aspen’s senior financial tax auditor, in the report.
Project manager Colin O’Neill works on the heated flooring in a new Snowmass playground structure being built by Garrett Brown Designs in Base Village on Tuesday, May 18, 2021. The project will be finished on Memorial Day weekend; masks won’t be required for the kids playing on the structure or anyone walking outside in Base Village after a May 17 town council vote eliminated mandatory outdoor mask zones in Snowmass Village. (Kelsey Brunner/Snowmass Sun)
Outdoor mandatory mask zones in Snowmass Village went the way of the woolly mammoth May 17 when Town Council unanimously voted on a new emergency ordinance that immediately aligned the town with Pitkin County COVID-19 guidelines and repealed town ordinances that put those zones in place.
Richard Zuckerwar takes a photos of the closure sign outside of Belly Up Aspen on Thursday, March 12, 2020. (Kelsey Brunner/The Aspen Times)
The summer return of live music to Aspen’s main, year-round concert venue is set for June and will favor those who have been vaccinated.
That was the word Thursday from Belly Up owner Michael Goldberg, who told members of the Pitkin County Board of Health he’s committed to ensuring that 80% of his customers each night will be vaccinated, while the other no more than 20% must provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test within the past 72 hours.
The Aspen Times
The Aspen Music Festival and School will charge audience members to sit on the lawn outside of the Benedict Music Tent this summer, organizers announced Thursday.
Seating on the listening lawn for which people bring their own blankets, chairs and refreshments has traditionally been a free offering. The reservation fee will only be in place for the 2021 season.
Alan Fletcher, president and CEO of the Aspen Music Festival and School, told members of the Pitkin County Board of Health on Thursday that lawn seating is usually a “free for all,” which is challenging to deal with under COVID protocols.