Those involved with the Downtown North Battleford Business Improvement District pointed to a long list of positives at their first annual general meeting as an organization.
Their executive director, Lisa McEachern, listed a wide range of events and changes in the downtown core in her address at the meeting, held at the Royal Canadian Legion hall in North Battleford.
Among the changes she noted was the demolition happening that week of the old Marlborough Hotel on 100th Street.
"The issues were beyond repair" with the building, McEachern noted, and the owner moved ahead with the demolition. McEachern said she had talked extensively with the owner and said he plans to rebuild in that location, which she welcomes as "providing new opportunities downtown."
McEachern also highlighted the recent sale of the by-now infamous "Pigeon Hotel" on 11th Avenue and 102nd Street.
She outlined some of the plans the new owner, Ryan Shepherd, has to rehabilitate the property and turn it into office space. A small business centre is planned for one of the floors, she said.
McEachern noted Shepherd owns the building that Downtown North Battleford is located in, and has transformed it from "a complete wreck" to a beautiful space.
Other changes she noted downtown were the sale of the Rae's Jewellry location to make way for a new business there, the opening of a ten-bed tanning studio at a location to be determined, the sale of the old Linda's Pawn Shop building, the move of Ironclad Safety downtown and some other moves.
"This is what's happened in the first three months of 2014, so I can't even imagine what might happen in the next nine months," said McEachern.
McEachern also talked about events planned for 2014, which include more Live at Lunch events, the Boys and Girls Soapbox Derby, the International Street Performers Festival and second-annual Fall Festival and Car Show. More initiatives are planned for 2014 as well.
The guest speaker was Phil DeVos, former mayor of Yorkton, who is now the executive director of the Yorkton Business Improvement District.
DeVos outlined some of the initiatives taken on by the Yorkton BID during the 10 years it has been in operation. Those included efforts to improve the look of downtown by putting up garbage cans and benches, addressing the issue of signage and how buildings looked, the establishment of a "walk a mile" route, and the transformation of some buildings. He described an old Hudson Bay building that was eventually turned into condos and business space.
DeVos talked about the need to forge partnerships throughout the community and said the BID executive should not do it alone. "Get the business members themselves helping if you can," he said.
He also encouraged those in the room, who included a number of businesspeople and council members, to come up with new ideas and to think big.
"Get your councillors off (their) duffs and say 'come on, join us, and we're going to dream a little bit,'" said DeVos.
