After seeing the lot across from Mano Cornuto sit vacant for years, Mano Figa’s co-owner Tyler Maher explains that, “we got to talking with our local agencies.” From, as Maher says, “their ties to the city and our initiatives,” emerged Piazza di Mano, a public park and community engagement hub, which opened at the end of July. It’s a joint venture between the group behind Mano Cornuto, Mano Figa, and MR-63’s Corridor Culturel initiative for showcasing cultural venues in the city.
Griffintown is notoriously void of green space despite the high population levels in the neighbourhood, so Mano and MR-63 worked to remedy that gap through the Piazza, bringing into the vacant lot-converted park an old shipping container to operate as a “self-sufficient food and beverage” area. In addition to food from Mano, gelato, and Quebec-sourced alcohol, the Piazza heeds its Italian roots with a bocce court, red-and-white checkered canopies, and an overall European feel.
The organizations involved rotate programming. For example, Corridor Culturel will host a chess night one evening, while Mano runs tombola—essentially an “Italian version of bingo” according to Maher— another night. Live music, DJs— “depending on the day of the week, we try to create different activities that engage the local community… something that appeals to all age ranges and people that live in the neighbourhood.”
Finish “Summer’s Winding Down, but Piazza di Mano Is Just Getting Started”
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