Visionary merchants required to make Point Douglas thrive

Dear editor:

We have a bar street. It's a roughly two-block stretch located just north of Higgins and Main, and it consists of the New West Hotel, the Northern Hotel, the Yale and the Sutherland. Hmmm... so why isn't it a happening place, just five minutes from downtown?

All kidding aside, the city planners and developers are missing a golden opportunity. Much has been made of redevelopment plans for the North and South Point Douglas area, yet nothing has come of it.

The Point Douglas Residents Committee did a comprehensive community survey in 2008, in which they asked the people there what kinds of businesses and amenities they'd like to see in their community. The people have spoken.

The top three things they want are a real grocery store, a great coffee shop and a laundromat. We'd also like to have restaurants, book stores, clothing stores, music stores, an artisans' gallery and studio, a farmers market. You get the picture.

Yet here's the way it is now: The California Fruit Market on the corner of Main and Euclid is the only grocery store of any scale in the community and it's for sale and scaling back its service to the area in the process. There are nearly 3,000 residents in the area, many of whom don't drive, thus don't have easy access to proper nutrition.

A forward-thinking developer would realize that buying the California Fruit property and as many other blocks as it would take to create all these things for the community would also serve the population they are trying to lure to Waterfront Drive, and folks who live in the Exchange District.

The transformation could start at the Cal Fruit location. It could be the de Luca's of the North End. Include some funky bars and bistros, music/theatre venues, stores like Des Art and the Gilded Lily on Osborne, galleries featuring the work of local artisans, and you've got a winning proposition. Our little point of land along the waterfront could become the Granville Island of Winnipeg. Right now we've got patches of progress, with the great work being done by The Edge Gallery and others on Main just south of Higgins.

But there's no plan. The city seems to go whichever way the wind blows, jumping for any bone thrown its way. In a survey done of businesses in the area, 80 per cent of the respondents said they'd be interested in developing new businesses in our communities.

So where's the political will to bring this all together? The private sector should take a serious look at the opportunities here. Don't wait for the bean counters, they're too busy counting beans.

HEATHER GEDDIE

Winnipeg

Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition April 22, 2009 A11