ATHOL – In November of last year, Athol was awarded a $25,000 Mass Downtown Initiative grant to undertake a Downtown Athol Restaurant Study.

A portion of that study includes a public restaurant survey to determine what kinds of eateries would not only be most popular, but could help jump start the revitalization of downtown Athol.

Consultant Peg Barringer, managing director and CEO of FinePoint Associates of Brookline, is coordinating the study. Barringer is very familiar with Athol, having completed a Downtown Athol Retail Market Assessment in 2017 and Downtown Housing Study in 2020.

The survey, which can be completed by residents and visitors to downtown, will provide Barringer with “income data, demographic data, spending patterns, things like that,” said Planning and Development Director Eric Smith. “We did talk about doing a customer survey to see what people say about the kinds of restaurants they like to go to in Athol, as well as those outside of Athol they may go to more frequently to gauge the demand for new kinds of restaurants in Athol.”

Smith was asked about the number of restaurants currently in business in downtown Athol.

“Basically what we did was look at all of the either liquor license or common victualers licenses. At the moment, there are about 11 restaurants in the downtown,” he said.

Of the 11 establishments on the list, four are pizza restaurants: Domino’s, Tool Town, Zeda’s and the Athol House of Pizza.

Once results of the survey are compiled, efforts will be made to attract new restaurants to the area. However, said Smith, there are other issues that need to be addressed before potential developers eye downtown as a potential market.

“What are some of the obstacles and challenges people are facing to open new restaurants in Athol?” Smith asked. “We’ve heard from some people that the fact it costs over $100,000 – six figures – to do a modern commercial kitchen build-out, which a restaurant requires; cost is one of the factors. That, as well as the cost of renovating some of the old buildings in downtown. We have to look at what actions can be taken to mitigate some of these factors.”

Smith said Barringer will provide a summary of the survey findings “and eventually we’ll have a whole presentation of the study, including market research, at a Downtown Vitality Committee meeting later in the spring. Then, yes, we can use this to reach out to some of the restaurant businesses that are out there around Worcester and other areas.”

To complete the online survey, go to www.athol-ma.gov/dept-of-planning-and-development and look for Downtown Athol Restaurant Survey under News and Announcements or go to https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/AtholRestaurants. 

Greg Vine can be reached at gvineadn@gmail.com.