Julia Sacco

The Lake Report

A St. Davids man is manufacturing clear plexiglass screens for small businesses as Niagara-on-the-Lake starts to open up again.

Leslie Mann, an architectural scale model builder, is putting his skills to use during the pandemic and helping small businesses adjust to new guidelines by offering plexiglass screens.

Unable to focus on his main business of creating models during the pandemic, Mann decided to use his resources and knowledge of acrylic plastics and styrene to aid the community.

“Seeing other businesses that were switching over because they didn’t have their main focus on what they were doing, like the breweries making hand sanitizers, I was thinking what can I do sitting around with my shop,” said Mann.

“Going into retail shops and seeing haphazard screens and plastic hanging from the ceiling I thought, 'Well I can do that.' ”

Mann aims to provide small businesses without suppliers of plexiglass with useful screens to protect both workers and customers.

With a workshop in his basement, Mann uses his own machinery to custom cut the sheets of plexiglass, cleans up edges to create a smooth finish and then either drills mounting wires to go up to the ceiling or makes it mountable for a countertop.

“I’m not mass producing a certain size or anything. If a business calls and gives me the requirements then that’s what I’ll make,” he said.

Mann has already created a screen to install at the Niagara Pumphouse Arts Centre and has volunteered to build a model of the new proposed St. Davids swimming pool for fundraising.

* To get in touch with Mann about his plexiglass screens, contact him by email at modelsbymann@gmail.com or 416-315-7086.