By Corey Boles
The face of Preston Street will change this spring with the construction of a much- anticipated arch to welcome visitors into the area.
“It will give us some character, some distinction and will help promote the area,” says Mario Giannetti, owner of Preston Hardware (1980) Ltd.
The $100,000 project is expected to be built this spring at the corner of Preston Street and Carling Avenue.
Members of the Preston Street Business Improvement Area, an organization of local business owners, agreed to pay for the arch in December.
“The arch will serve as a welcome to the area to the many tourists that visit Dow’s Lake,” says Peter Harris, the BIA’s executive director.
The archway will stretch across Preston near the intersection facing the Dow’s Lake complex. It will be made of Italian granite columns.
Local business owners are in favor of the arch because they expect it to increase pedestrian activity in the area.
Fernando D’Orazio, owner of the Preston Fish Market, likes the arch because he says it will give the area the atmosphere of an outside shopping mall. “It’s a great idea,” he says.
Marco Guarino, who works at the Ciccio Cafe, agreed. “It will create more volume of people walking in the area, which is definitely a good thing,” he said.
Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson is another supporter of the project. He was at the meeting of the BIA last month when the idea was unveiled.
“I think it’s a good initiative by the Business Improvement Area. I wish them well,” Watson said in a phone interview Jan. 14.
The arch will be the first of its kind in Ottawa.
The only other arch in the city is the controversial Unity Tower in front of City Hall on Sussex Drive. It was plagued with difficulties because promised money from private sources never materialized.
But Watson doesn’t see any similarities between the two projects. “The great difference is that the Unity Tower was funded by the public sector and this is a private venture,” he said.
While nothing else is yet on the books, the BIA is considering other initiatives to fix up the area and draw in more visitors.
“We can provide an environment that people would want to visit and want to invest in and we’ll do everything we can to accomplish that,” says Harris, who is the only paid employee of the group.