Troy Gadbois owns The Pilot House and The Iron Duke on Wellington in Kingston’s downtown core. While he is serving food for takeout, Gadbois says that just lessens the financial losses. “Sometimes I feel like those old Garfield cartoons where a cat’s stuck on the screen door, you’re just hanging on,” Gadbois said.
Needless to say, he’s happy the City of Kingston has waived the fees it usually collects for sidewalk patios — something he says amounts to thousands of dollars at both places. “It’s certainly going to help out, for sure,” he said. “There’s no doubt about that, so it’s certainly very welcomed and personally, I applaud the city for it and I appreciate it.” The Toucan has a patio but it’s on private property, so owner Bruce Clark