Council has approved the immediate demolition and cleanup of the empty, expropriated buildings downtown.
Councillor Keith McGrath’s motion passed 9-1 – though it was amended to exclude buildings with tenants still in them.
Mayor Melissa Blake says she wants to keep up momentum for redevelopment.
“I’m one who supports downtown redevelopment in any way, shape, or form. And in fact, when you see some of these old buildings looking more run-down and dilapidated, to me, the motion – if it is speaking to a spark of change, then I am all for the change,” she said.
McGrath says the current state of downtown isn’t very inviting for potential business.
“As we all know, we want to build exciting things in the city centre. And to spark that outside investment, and take some investors in here and show them around the community – downtown really looks like it’s, in some places, a ghetto-style. And I know that we’re much better than that,” he said.
Councillor Phil Meagher was the only one to vote against the motion, saying it’s not something he can get behind right now.
“Because there’s no plan. There’s absolutely no plan. They just want to knock everything down and hopefully developers come in. We need a plan before we go ahead and just make everything flat. I don’t see how that’s going to attract developers. The fact of the matter is, there are some things I think are worth saving down here,” he said.
The motion states that the buildings are to be cleaned up by June 15, a date that CAO Glen Laubenstein said he believes can be achieved.
