McFARLING: Sault Ste. Marie downtown not beyond redemption

But if we don’t start acting now, our central core will continue to deteriorate

Article content Under air quality warnings, Sault Ste Marie Rotary Fest cautiously kicked off this week. Despite the setbacks dealt to the City over the past year, civic pride is resiliently beaming in Sault Ste Marie. We have already enjoyed the Italian Fest at Roberta Bondar Pavilion, Canada Day Celebrations, Festival of Cultures, the Poutine Fest and there is much, much more to come.

Recommended Videos Over the summer months, thousands us (teens, couples, families, children) join to remind ourselves that we are more than just a collection of individuals, we are Saultites, and our historic downtown is where we go to celebrate this. We go there because the downtown core is the heart of every city. Unfortunately, many will leave downtown with feelings of disappointment, frustration and in some cases fear.

What was once a vibrant, if grittier, part of our city has become a refuge for the most marginalized among us – those suffering from poverty, addiction and desperation. The only thing more surprising than downtown’s decline, is that anyone is surprised. Downtown Sault Ste Marie has become a place that for the last number of years we only show up to for special occasions.

And like the good China or that special suit, it loses significance if it is not used. If you don’t use the good China for a year or two, you begin to wonder why you even bother. If we want to be proud of our City, we must not that happen.

City council has made several courageous investments over the years to reverse this trend. The Queen Street revitalization is ongoing, the Gore Street work looks great, the Mill area is generating increasing interest, and the Queen Street Plaza is gaining traction. That said, there is more Council needs to do to make sure they don’t undermine their own progress.

The migration North from downtown Sault Ste Marie has been gradual but consistent. In addition to scores of small businesses, the hospitals are gone, and St. Basils and St. Mary’s have moved to a new location. When this is considered within the larger context of the shuttering the two anchor stores in Station Mall and the reposition of retail along Great Northern Road, what has left the downtown area is more than just businesses and civic institutions.

When they left, they took with them the life blood of every city – societal traffic. No longer are hospital workers, teachers and students milling about downtown and when they left, the problems we see increased. The migration can’t be undone, but there are things that can re-vitalize downtown beyond street beautification, including keeping the city bus terminal where it is, incentivizing business development, and relocating the new Police Station.

Dennis Street Bus Terminal Whatever consideration is being given to moving the Dennis street bus station must stop. City council is doing all the right things by trying to get people downtown, but moving the terminal will reduce the required foot traffic.

If we want to get more people on the bus and and walking along Queen Street, it must be easy and convenient. Moving the terminal to Huron street would be more convenient for the transit commission, but not for the riders. It may brief well with efficiency experts but does nothing to serve the community.

Making it easier for the administrators and operators if it discourages riders should be a non-starter. Not only should the terminal be refreshed and stay put, but more people should also be encouraged to use the bus. Council should explore what Ottawa, North Bay, Mississauga, and Hamilton have done and offer free, or significantly discounted, summer transit passes to youth.

If it’s easier to get downtown, the more people will come. More people on streets, inevitably leads to safer streets. Support Businesses New businesses should be encouraged to use the existing public infrastructure around which the city has been built rather than joining the exodus to Great Northern Road.

Existing businesses should be given incentives to remain in the downtown core. The migration to the north might be good for big box stores, but despite the current challenges, there remains opportunity for merchants downtown. We need to encourage a variety of businesses downtown.

Vibrant downtowns aren’t places where people only go at night or only go during the day. There needs to be mix. It is this mix that creates the eyes on the street that keep communities safe.

Streets are safe when people are on them, people are on them when there are businesses and services. The more and varied businesses that are downtown, the more people will come. Police Station

When the Sault Ste. Mare Police Services moved to its current location in 1968, it was one of the first civic institutions to leave downtown. It was a time when cities across North America were abandoning downtown for the suburbs.

It has been well-documented that the Police Service has outgrown their current home and are looking for a new location. This will be a significant investment for Sault Ste. Marie, and we need to make sure it serves the needs of the Police Service as well as the interests of the public.

A downtown location will do both. It will bring traffic and life back to the core, it will be closer to the Court House, closer to the hotspots to which the police respond, make people feel safer and give them the confidence to spend time downtown. As Matthew Shoemaker said in his 2022 election platform, “A downtown police station would bring a greater police presence closer to areas of the City that need more public safety support.

It would also bring a considerable number of workers and visitors downtown each day, benefiting nearby merchants.” The Police Station relocation could be the tipping point; if the station does not return to downtown, the continued migration to Great Northern Road may be unstoppable and our downtown will be a shadow of its former self. We can’t afford to wait.

If we don’t start acting now, our downtown will continue to deteriorate, and we’ll find ourselves driving from one parking lot to the next on Great Northern Road while we tell our children stories of how great downtown used to be. I appreciate that none of these proposals address the drug epidemic that is devasting Sault Ste. Marie and too many cities across Canada.

The plague of addiction that destroys individuals, families and communities, and the social issues that underly them, requires a nationally coordinated, multi-government approach which demands the attention of all our elected representatives, but that doesn’t mean that we abandon the heart of our City, and hope for the best. Donald McFarling is the former executive assistant to Carmen Provenzano, Sault Ste. Marie MP from 1997 to 2004.

He is currently an assistant professor at the Royal Military College of Canada, Department of Economics and Political Science.