Pumping life
into the heart of the city
SOUTHLAND VOLKWAGEN Congratulates
Bill wishes to thank the endless customer Bill Woolmer loyalty that has helped
him achieve top sales for 2014 as well the continued support from Management, Sales and Service. Bill will continue to offer all his past, present and future customers the Best Sales Experience possible. Visit Bill today and experience the Service beyond the Sale.
1-888-216-8814 1450 Strachan Rd. SE Medicine Hat, AB
www.southlandvw.com 42 2015 REPORT ON SOUTHEAST ALBERTA 403.488.3972 41189980•03/31/15
W TIM KALINOWSKI
hat is a city? A city aspires to be more than what it is. A city dreams itself into existence
and whispers its way down back alleys and along busy streets. A city has a soul of its own—a character built up over generations founded on the desires and hopes of its citizens. And the heart of the city, the place which reflects its truest self, is its downtown core.
“Downtowns don’t disappear,” says Les Schwabe, chair of the Medicine Hat City Centre Development Agency. “They might get lost for a little while but I think we are well on our way to seeing downtown Medicine Hat turning the corner.”
Over the last five years of frenetic activity the City of Medicine Hat, the CCDA and numerous private stakeholders have been fighting to reinvigourate Medicine Hat’s downtown. They have made strides, they have had successes, and they have run up against a few brick walls, but Wayne Smith, CCDA executive director, says new hubs have finally begun to emerge to enhance the vibrancy of Medicine Hat’s downtown life.
“We have a real good momentum going here on property and people moving into the downtown core,” confirms Smith. “We have a great coffee/culture clique going on down here right now. That is primarily during the day but they are starting to go a little further into the evening. We have six great coffee shops in the downtown core. We have good restaurants and bars. We have the Esplanade.”
Both Smith and Schwabe feel more such hubs are needed, but true downtown
development means attracting more professionals and more residents. In short, greater density. It also means answering a fundamental question: What is Medicine Hat? What do we want our city to be?
“Most other places when they are redoing their downtowns over the years have had to go answer that question right up front,” says Schwabe. “Is it a place we want people to come to? Is it part of our tourism destination aspect? If we are going to show off Medicine Hat, what are we showing off here?”
“The whole dynamic of what a downtown is has changed,” agrees Smith. “The real question is how you draw people into the downtown in a way that will benefit everybody? Downtown is the place to be in a city. People want to go downtown.”
Keith Crush, business development officer for the City of Medicine Hat, says, ultimately, the city’s downtown will be what the people who live and work there decide to make of it. And that will be directly reflected in how much time, effort, capital and energy downtown dwellers and business owners are willing to invest in that vision.
“There are very brave souls out there, and very brave entrepreneurs, who are prepared to take personal risk and invest their time, their money and their patience to see an evolution in the downtown and make something happen,” says Crush. “Physically and through development permits being filed we see the changes that are happening. These are tangible and we can observe them, but there is also the anecdotal side as we see people in the community talking about what’s happening in the downtown.”
The government’s job, says Crush, is to empower its citizens’ aspirations. To
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114 |
Page 115 |
Page 116