Restaurants on The Square in Athens began receiving an upgrade this week with the installation of permanent fencing meant to enhance outdoor dining spaces.

Old Mill Iron LLC of Athens began on Thursday installing the wrought iron stanchions and chains that will enclose the outdoor dining areas. Village Pizza and Lucia’s Cocina Mexicana received the upgrade first, with U.G. White and Terranova’s scheduled to follow the next day.

According to Tere Richardson, executive director of Athens Main Street, the permanent fencing will eventually be in front of each restaurant down Market Street, including The Sweetest Things Tea Room and Pimentos.

“We are so excited about it going up,” Richardson said.

Laura Tarokh, who co-owns Village Pizza with her husband Josh, said she is really pleased with the finished product.

“It looks great,” she said. “A lot of people are still more comfortable sitting outside due to the pandemic, and it gives us more options for outdoor seating if that’s what customers prefer. We feel like people really enjoy outdoor dining going into the fall months.”

Tarokh said Village Pizza actually had limited outdoor seating before coronavirus made it more of a necessity, and those patio tables were the restaurant’s most popular seating options.

Now, in order to help expand outdoor dining, she said Athens has “graciously” allowed Village Pizza to use more of the city-owned sidewalk along the sides of the restaurant. She said the city and Richardson have worked hard to make the expanded outdoor dining happen.

“Once the pandemic came, they worked to expand the footprint of all the outside dining across The Square,” Tarokh said. “I feel like people have been receptive to the option.”

A little over a month ago, the Athens City Council voted to fund the purchase and installation of the wrought-iron stanchions and chains in order to enhance outdoor dining space at restaurants on The Square. Mayor Ronnie Marks awarded $7,000 to the project from a special events fund at his discretion, and the City Council voted to appropriate $3,000 more from its general fund.

“We are thrilled that we got the support from the Council to do all these things,” Richardson said. “Without the support of the Council and Mayor Marks, this wouldn’t have happened. They recognized they needed to keep downtown Athens vibrant. A strong downtown is important for the entire community.”