After years of trying to revitalize Oldtown Salinas, construction for more businesses and outdoor dining is underway.City council on Tuesday approved a loan forgiveness program for downtown restaurants to have permanent outdoor dining through a sidewalk cafe encroachment Permit. "Bigger cities for example, like San Francisco or even Monterey, it would be too crowded to sit at a nice restaurant like this and wait in line for 20 or 30 minutes," said Matt Hrutkay, a visitor from San Diego. Restaurants, breweries and coffee shops can receive a loan for up to $10,000 to furnish outdoor set-ups and meet new standards set by the city. Qualified purchases include tables, chairs, fencing, umbrellas and portable heaters. The color pallet is black, bronze and silver. Loans are interest-free and forgivable at the rate of one-third of the loan amount at the end of each year for three years, provided the businesses maintain the outdoor space. About 15 loans will be given out on a first-come, first-served basis. Priority will be given to businesses that already have outdoor dining through a temporary permit.Community Development and Public Works is still refining the program. The application will open sometime in September. City support for outdoor dining has existed for years. In October 2016, City Council passed a one-year SCEP incentive program to encourage outdoor dining by waiving the $300 permit fee. Ten applications were available but only two businesses applied.After the COVID-19 pandemic forced restaurant dining outside, businesses expressed an interest in making it permanent.“We're used to having it outside because of COVID so we might as well have it outside and inside too," Josué Rubio, the manager at La Cantina, said. Outdoor dining is not the only project underway in Oldtown. The building on 300 Main St. that formerly housed the department store Dick Bruhn went up in flames in 2016. Construction to transform it into a multiuse building with shops and 19 apartment units is underway. The building is expected to be complete in August. "We're looking at a New Orleans style with all the rod iron, all the tin work, the metal on the outside of the building. We’re trying to bring everything on the outside of the building into the interior corridor atrium areas," said Matt Gourely, the contractor leading the project.