Gord Ferguson says the contractors are working as hard as they can, but there is no way the concession in Lakawanna Park is going to be open this weekend.
“Our goal was to try to be open this weekend for the car show and we are not going to make it,” said Ferguson.
The good news is the project to makeover the park and old concession is three to four weeks ahead of schedule, and Ferguson expects to be up and running at the end of the first week in July.
“I am very fortunate Greyback Construction is as focused on speed as I am,” said Ferguson.
Not being able to open for one of the busiest weekends of the year, with the Elvis Festival and the Peach City Beach Cruise both in town, doesn’t change Ferguson’s enthusiasm for his goals of enhancing Lakawanna Park and the concession, now known as Patio Burger and Ice Cream Co. The third of his three pillars for enhancing the operation is upgrading the food service in the concession.
“Just last night on Facebook, we announced we are going to add a rooftop garden to the building,” said Ferguson.
That garden, he said, will supply a good part of the lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers and herbs they will use in burgers and salads.
That fits right in with Ferguson’s drive to make sure all the food is made as fresh as possible, from hand-cut fries to the ice cream.
“We are going to make ice cream from scratch in the old French custard way,” he said.
Earlier this week, Patio Burger also got the City of Penticton support in their bid for a liquor licence.
“The city has approved it, so it is in the province’s hands now. That can take time. It is a little bit of a waiting game, so we go from there,” he said. “Every day we get closer, we are more and more excited. We are just focused and excited to really put out a product and experience that people of Penticton and the area have never seen.
“We are trying to create our own magic.”
For ongoing updates, visit patioburger on Facebook.