GREENFIELD – They city is working with the Massachusetts Commission on the Blind to find a new home for Le Petit Cafe, the eatery that’s been a source of caffeine and nourishment to passersby on Main Street for the last several decades.
With the impending construction of the new library at the fire station property, the Massachusetts Commission on the Blind, which owns the cafe, is no longer interested in keeping it in that location, according to Mayor Roxann Wedegartner.
Last month, the Fire Department completed its move from the station on Main Street into a temporary structure on Hope Street, which officials expect the department to operate out of for the next two years while a new station is built. The city is continuing negotiations regarding the open air market property on Main Street near Coombs Avenue, where it hopes to build the new station.
The cafe, which has been run by several different vendors over the years, has been at that location on Main Street since the then-Selectboard allowed a concession there in 1964, according to Wedegartner. The latest person to run the cafe, she said, is not interested in re-opening it, which has been closed at least since the pandemic.
Wedegartner said she’s worked with the commission over the last several months to see if the operation can be moved to another site in the Greenfield, namely the cafe space in the John Olver Transportation Center.
“It is likely too small for them to do a more full-scale cafe-type operation, but they could do coffee, tea, beverages, pastries and snacks,” Wedegartner said in an email. “Right now, they haven’t made any decisions.”
She noted that the commission is also considering whether to put vending machines in downtown public buildings.
The decision regarding the cafe will depend, in part, on how much foot traffic it would see in the Transportation Center, according to Wedegartner.
“I am currently trying to gather “foot traffic” numbers for them from area businesses and agencies,” Wedegartner wrote.
In the meantime, she said, the ommission has relinquished the site to the contractors and the owner project manager for the construction of the library.
Reporter Mary Byrne can be reached at mbyrne@recorder.com or 413-930-4429. Twitter: @MaryEByrne