Downtown BIA President Jamie Roach has a vision for the downtown in the next few years.

And one of them being talked about is how to incorporate the popular Urban Park in the winter time.

He says he doesn’t have the answer to it as of yet, but “there’s something” there.

“We’re a winter community,” he told Rogers Media Friday afternoon, “Let’s get together, put our heads together and figure something out…not every week maybe, but let’s see what we can come up with.”

This stems from a question in relation to an upcoming strategic plan that the BIA is about to develop.

The other issue the board hopes to address with the strategic plan is vacant buildings and how to fill them with long-lasting tenants.

He encourages those working from home to take a look.

“People assume that moving out of your home is going to be a massive leap and crazy expensive,” Roach says, “The reality is there are a lot of smaller spaces downtown that are great spaces and very reasonably priced.”

“And puts you in the public eye.”

Speaking of in the public eye, one upcoming vacancy being talked about is the Porcupine Health Unit building.

The PHU is expected to move out of the downtown into a new facility in the city’s north end by 2020.

Roach says as of right now, the PHU still owns the building and are responsible to sell it.

“I’m not passing the buck, the reality is it is their building and we’re confident at this point that they will find somebody to move in there,” he adds.

“Will it be the same number of staff, exactly the same? Probably not, we have to be realistic. We’re here to be a strategic partner with them, and to help them divest themselves of that building and to get a really strong tenant or tenants in there in the next couple of years.”

The BIA held their annual general meeting Friday at the Senator Hotel.

An awards ceremony in the vacant Tweed and Hickory Building on Third Avenue was a big highlight over the last year. Roach says it was a well-attended event, and wants to expand on the concept of utilizing vacant buildings for events in the future.

Another big highlight goes back to the Urban Park, and their expansion to Wednesdays.

And speaking of expansion in the downtown, Roach says 28 businesses or offices opened up downtown in the last couple years.

He says all 28 remain open to this day.

Filed under: Local News