Courtesy 9 Mile Garden
Missouri’s first food truck park, 9 Mile Garden, has temporarily ceased operations after less than a month in business, according to a press release. The venue joins the growing list of area bars and food service establishments that have agreed to (or been forced to) hit the pause button.
Brian Hardesty, 9 Mile Garden’s organizer and managing partner, says "the closure is 100 percent proactive and not the result of a positive COVID test." The press release also noted that the closure was a preventative measure resulting from the recent health and safety regulations set forth this week by St. Louis County. Hardesty says it would be difficult, if not impossible, to limit gatherings to 50 people in the venue's outdoor setting. "And even if we were successful doing that, it's not worth it for the food trucks to show up to feed so few people," he says. "I think they understand that."
In the same vein, reducing the capacity to 25 percent inside The Canteen, 9 Mile Garden's beverage hub, was not economically feasible.
“Our first and foremost concern is for the health and safety of our staff and patrons, as well as our vendors and the community we serve,” Hardesty said in the release. "While it is sad to close, we look forward to reopening soon and providing a safe place where people can gather, eat, drink, and enjoy themselves and their neighbors.”
The timetable for reopening has not been set, but all scheduled events for the month of August have been canceled, including Live Music Fridays, Outdoor Movies Saturdays, as well as screenings of Cardinals and Blues games on the 26-foot outdoor screen.
During the hiatus, the staff will collect donated goods for local charities and organizations, in addition to helping with select drive-up food pop-ups and more events to be determined.
Photo by Jose Mendez
For the 30 food truck operators chosen to operate at the venue, 9 Mile has provided a lifeline at a difficult time for all food service operators. Chloe Yates and Ben McArthur, who operate the popular Red Dirt Revival food truck, had experienced a good first month at the venue but could sympathize with Hardesty.
“While we were more than saddened to lose at least a month’s worth of event business, Brian’s job is to protect both the business and the patrons," Yates says. "With this week’s announcement of restrictions and every business being under even more pressure to abide by new guidelines, Brian was in a difficult spot."
McArthur adds that he and Yates will revert to their business plan before 9 Mile Garden opened: “We will focus on booking ourselves in neighborhoods, which is a growing segment, and we’ll be offering more bulk meat options and family-style meals while upping our catering and delivery game.”
