'The downtown represents the spirit of the city': Local groups calling for downtown revitalization with major catalyst projects
Three downtown business organizations are advocating for the City of Regina to locate a new multi-purpose events centre and central library branch in the downtown core.
Regina's Downtown Business Improvement District (BID), Warehouse District, and Chamber of Commerce brought in an expert from New York as part of a speaker series. The Transform Downtown luncheons are aimed at transforming the city’s core.
“The downtown represents to the rest of the world the spirit of the overall city and indeed of a province,” said former International Downtown Association chair Tim Tompkins. “It is the economic driver. It’s where the tax base is and it can help support and pay for the services that the entire city needs.”
As the former president of the Times Square Alliance in New York City, Tompkins was a part of the revitalization Times Square has undergone in the last 20 years.
In his presentation Friday, he said thriving culture, art, and economy is what will bring people to the city centre.
“Half of it is simply celebrating what you’ve got,” said Tompkins. “This is a place that has great bones, great history and an enthusiastic set of people, entrepreneurs and creators that want to make things happen.”
To do this, the business districts are calling for at least two of the five proposed major catalyst projects to be located downtown.
“If not now, when?” asked Judith Veresuk, Downtown BID executive director. “With the interest of the library and an arena, all of those coming together in the last year makes downtown the place to be.”
“Fundamentally, we need people downtown whether they’re coming to visit from outside the city, from inside the city in the suburbs or live downtown” said Mayor Sandra Masters. “People are life.”
Masters said smaller cultural and artistic projects are easier to execute in the short term, but long term, the city needs the larger projects to keep visitors and residents coming back.
“Hopefully their experience on the smaller, more personal level is positive and it creates a habit of coming into our downtown.”
The city said it is continuing to look for ways to invest into downtown, looking at other centres for inspiration.
“The things people interact with are similar around the world,” said Masters. “Some of the things that draw people in a focused way are real opportunities for us.”
“The momentum that we all saw during the world juniors in Halifax and Moncton, that have downtown arenas, those things are achievable here,” said Veresuk. “The vibrancy in the downtown is something we can replicate.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Indian envoy warns of 'big red line,' days after charges laid in Nijjar case
India's envoy to Canada insists relations between the two countries are positive overall, despite what he describes as 'a lot of noise.'
Former homicide detective explains how police will investigate shooting outside Drake's Bridle Path mansion
Footage from dozens of security cameras in the area of Drake’s Bridle Path mansion could be the key to identifying the suspect responsible for shooting and seriously injuring a security guard outside the rapper’s sprawling home early Tuesday morning, a former Toronto homicide detective says.
Stormy Daniels describes meeting Trump during occasionally graphic testimony in hush money trial
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
Alcohol believed to be a factor in boating incident after 2 men die: N.S. RCMP
Two Nova Scotia men are dead after a boat they were travelling in sank in the Annapolis River in Granville Centre, N.S., on Monday.
Northern Ont. woman makes 'eggstraordinary' find
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
Susan Buckner, who played spirited cheerleader Patty Simcox in 'Grease,' dead at 72
Susan Buckner, best known for playing peppy Rydell High School cheerleader Patty Simcox in the 1978 classic movie musical 'Grease,' has died. She was 72.
Jeremy Skibicki has 'uphill battle' to prove he's not criminally responsible in Winnipeg killings: legal analysts
Accused killer Jeremy Skibicki could have a challenging time convincing a judge that he is not criminally responsible for the deaths of four Indigenous women, a legal analyst says.
Bye-bye bag fee: Calgary repeals single-use bylaw
A Calgary bylaw requiring businesses to charge a minimum bag fee and only provide single-use items when requested has officially been tossed.
CFL suspends Argos QB Chad Kelly at least nine games following investigation
The CFL suspended Toronto Argonauts quarterback Chad Kelly for at least nine regular-season games Tuesday following its investigation into a lawsuit filed by a former strength-and-conditioning coach against both the player and club.