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A “living statue” exhibition on Sparks Street this weekend might be the perfect event for a tourist strip that has stood still for years.
But the business authority and the city want to focus on the living part, or the “glimmer of hope” that Mayor Jim Watson described on Friday as the pedestrian mall celebrated its 50th anniversary.
In a joint project with the federal government, the city published a request for proposals to hire a consultant for a public realm design study on Sparks Street.
Sparks Street now has the close attention of the big bosses at city hall, with Watson putting the city on notice that he’ll be “quite hands-on” when it comes revitalization initiatives, possibly to the point of micromanaging.
“I want to see this place animated all of the time,” Watson said. “You look at some of the success of the BuskerFest, PoutineFest and RibFest, it packs people in here, but we need something in between those festivals to keep it exciting.”
Watson already has some small ideas, like paying student musicians to play on each block of Sparks Street next summer.
Something, he said, to keep the energy up while people shop or go for dinner.
Sparks is close to Watson’s heart since he was on the street’s board of management before he entered politics.
A Sparks Street revitalization has been perpetually in motion, slowed partly because the city and feds have different responsibilities (the feds own many buildings, while the city owns the street) and politicians come and go.
A couple of years ago the National Capital Commission expressed interest in leading a visioning exercise for Sparks Street, even though the agency doesn’t actually own much there. Still, people have just assumed that the NCC has a big role on Sparks Street.
City officials say now is the time to focus on Sparks Street with two LRT stations opening a block away in 2018 and Ashcroft building a luxury condo complex on land between Sparks and Queen streets.
The lack of people living on and around Sparks Street has always been the biggest problem standing in the way of revitalization.
“We’re looking at how do we get people down here. What does it take?” Somerset Coun. Catherine McKenney said.
McKenney said Sparks Street is usually an afterthought for people who live in her downtown ward.
“The residents don’t think of Sparks as their street,” McKenney said. “They don’t think of it as part of their neighbourhood because it’s removed and nobody lives here.”
There seems to be more activity on Sparks Street in recent years, with the addition of popular restaurants that are pulling customers to the pedestrian mall on nights and weekends when the downtown is void of office workers.
Tony Kano, the chair of the Sparks Street BIA, said the organization has been focused on events that bring people to Sparks Street during the traditionally quiet hours.
Kano finally sees momentum on Sparks Street with all stakeholders, including governments and the private sector, keeping their focus on improving the strip.
“It’s serious right now. It looks serious. We have yet to see, but I hope it’s going to be a sign of good things to happen,” Kano said.
Watson said it shouldn’t require a pile of government cash to transform Sparks Street.
“You need to have a better mix of stores and you need some animation on the street,” Watson said. “I don’t think that takes a lot of money. It takes a lot of imagination.”
jwilling@postmedia.com
twitter.com/JonathanWilling
查看原文...
But the business authority and the city want to focus on the living part, or the “glimmer of hope” that Mayor Jim Watson described on Friday as the pedestrian mall celebrated its 50th anniversary.
In a joint project with the federal government, the city published a request for proposals to hire a consultant for a public realm design study on Sparks Street.
Sparks Street now has the close attention of the big bosses at city hall, with Watson putting the city on notice that he’ll be “quite hands-on” when it comes revitalization initiatives, possibly to the point of micromanaging.
“I want to see this place animated all of the time,” Watson said. “You look at some of the success of the BuskerFest, PoutineFest and RibFest, it packs people in here, but we need something in between those festivals to keep it exciting.”
Watson already has some small ideas, like paying student musicians to play on each block of Sparks Street next summer.
Something, he said, to keep the energy up while people shop or go for dinner.
Sparks is close to Watson’s heart since he was on the street’s board of management before he entered politics.
A Sparks Street revitalization has been perpetually in motion, slowed partly because the city and feds have different responsibilities (the feds own many buildings, while the city owns the street) and politicians come and go.
A couple of years ago the National Capital Commission expressed interest in leading a visioning exercise for Sparks Street, even though the agency doesn’t actually own much there. Still, people have just assumed that the NCC has a big role on Sparks Street.
City officials say now is the time to focus on Sparks Street with two LRT stations opening a block away in 2018 and Ashcroft building a luxury condo complex on land between Sparks and Queen streets.
The lack of people living on and around Sparks Street has always been the biggest problem standing in the way of revitalization.
“We’re looking at how do we get people down here. What does it take?” Somerset Coun. Catherine McKenney said.
McKenney said Sparks Street is usually an afterthought for people who live in her downtown ward.
“The residents don’t think of Sparks as their street,” McKenney said. “They don’t think of it as part of their neighbourhood because it’s removed and nobody lives here.”
There seems to be more activity on Sparks Street in recent years, with the addition of popular restaurants that are pulling customers to the pedestrian mall on nights and weekends when the downtown is void of office workers.
Tony Kano, the chair of the Sparks Street BIA, said the organization has been focused on events that bring people to Sparks Street during the traditionally quiet hours.
Kano finally sees momentum on Sparks Street with all stakeholders, including governments and the private sector, keeping their focus on improving the strip.
“It’s serious right now. It looks serious. We have yet to see, but I hope it’s going to be a sign of good things to happen,” Kano said.
Watson said it shouldn’t require a pile of government cash to transform Sparks Street.
“You need to have a better mix of stores and you need some animation on the street,” Watson said. “I don’t think that takes a lot of money. It takes a lot of imagination.”
jwilling@postmedia.com
twitter.com/JonathanWilling
查看原文...
