City Council will consider review of the Downtown Association

Nearly half a century after it was founded as a business district that taxed itself to offer beneficial programs, Sault Ste. Marie’s Downtown Association is about to come under scrutiny from the city.

District 2 Coun. Luke Dufour and his District 5 counterpart, Corey Gardi, will ask the city council on Monday to authorize a review of the organization’s existence, coverage area and promotional efforts.

“If council believes that downtown development is a community priority, it must be supported by the community, not just the businesses that are directly on Queen Street between Gore Street and East Street,” the resolution reads.

“The dissolution of a Business Improvement Area is an option available to municipalities under the 2001 Municipal Act,” the councilors add.

Founded in 1976, Sault Ste. Marie’s Downtown Association has about 400 members, including 150 building owners and about 250 renters.

It officially covers a stretch of Queen Street more than a kilometer long, but in recent years has begun to defend a larger area of ​​the city center, stretching from the Station Mall to the south, the Gateway site to the west, the old hospital to the east .

This broader area is often described in the Downtown Association offices as “river to railroad.”

Having a formal Business Improvement Area in the city center allows the city to apply for provincial funding for physical and aesthetic improvements to the site.

Here is the full resolution to be presented at Monday’s city council meeting.

City Center Business Improvement Area

Mover: Cond. L. Dufour
Second: Cond. C. Gardi

Whereas the City of Sault Ste. Marie has had a Business Improvement Area known as the Downtown Association (formerly the Queenstown Association) since 1976, a time when Queen Street was the community’s main business district; and

Whereas since 1976 commercial activity in the community has become more spread out throughout the community including the expansion of the mall, the redevelopment of the St. Mary’s Paper site in the Canal District and the expansion of offerings on Great Northern Road, Northern Avenue and Trunk and

Whereas city centers have, over several decades, moved from being just the commercial hearts of communities to becoming the social hearts of a community, hosting festivals and events whilst continuing to offer commercial and retail attractions; and

Whereas it is prudent to review whether the center’s marketing and promotion model that operated in 1976 continues to be the best model for our center, recognizing that the community’s definition of a center is different from the geographic boundaries of the Center Association; and

Whereas, if council believes downtown development is a community priority, it must be supported by the community, not just the businesses that are directly on Queen Street between Gore Street and East Street; and

Whereas the dissolution of a Business Improvement Area is an option available to municipalities under the Municipal Act 2001; and

It is now therefore resolved that staff be asked to investigate how comparable communities are activating, promoting and marketing their centres, and to inform council of the options available, either with a recommendation or with options between which the council could choose to better activate, promote and market Sault Ste. Marie is in the center of the city.