It would be easy to line up on the skeptical side, but this time around, we believe the latest plan for downtown renewal can actually get and retain a good foothold.
Over the years we have seen several plans for renewal of the central business district end up in the land of dreams and dusty shelves. One such plan, presented about 10 years ago, at least resulted in some fine looking trees 小蓝视频 planted in the business core of our city. They were welcomed and after a few rough years of spindly development, most of them are now positive additions to a downtown sector that quite frankly, requires a lot of assistance.
Dressing up store fronts will be a huge positive move forward and the fact there is financial assistance and a realistic plan in place to make it happen is a big plus.
With the Estevan and District Board of Tourism, Trade and Commerce (ETTC) doing the lifting and detailing, the downtown renewal project is on a fast track and this time the plan, that is designed to roll out with a time line and scheduled budget, is a realistic one.
As Councillor Lynn Chipley noted quite correctly on Monday night in the council chambers, the world will be watching Estevan and some players in this global economy will be paying us visits as the local clean coal project moves rapidly forward. So it's time to do something about reviving our appearance.
While retail owners and managers consult with the architects and designers and set their particular course of action, we feel that our senior city administration needs to step up and make some enhancement plans too so they can work in concert with those who will be directing time, talent and money into making Estevan a more complete and pleasant community in which to live and work.
As noted in an earlier editorial, the City could go a long way toward improving working conditions in central Estevan by simply sending a street sweeper up and down these three main corridors at least once daily, even after (or if) the much ballyhooed truck bypass is built. Our downtown core is a natural collector of debris, dust, grime and mud just through the natural course of daily events, plus a railroad that runs dirt-laden traffic through it about 20 times a day.
If carrying dirt and dust into the city daily is regular price to pay for the type of business we conduct, then cleaning it up also requires daily attention. That clean-up should also include regular hosing and pressure cleaning of our downtown sidewalks, which we note, probably require replacement as do the ghostly, ghastly ineffective street lights.
A move toward addressing any of these items would give a clear message to the business community that City Hall is with them in spirit and intent as well as with the budget.
As it was also noted on Monday night, there has been no better time in the history of our city to get something of this nature done. This is not a time for excuses or delays. This time we have a civic administration, civic management, business community, support services and agencies plus a provincial government all willing to participate with a degree of enthusiasm.
That's why this time we're not going to play the role of cynic or skeptic. We're looking at the bright side of this ambitious project.
Let's hope we're right.
