By Karen Brandt
The smell of chicken and ribs roasting on the barbeque will no longer waft down Sparks Street in June.
On March 30, the Sparks Street Mall Authority’s board of directors upheld a recent decision of its advertising and promotions committee to cancel the annual Chicken ‘n’ Ribs Cook-off, despite a last-minute petition signed by more than 40 merchants asking the board to reinstate it.
Herb Gosewich, owner of Ritchie’s Sports Fan-Apparel Shop and a member of the advertising and promotions committee, says it doesn’t make sense to cancel the popular event. Gosewich signed the petition to bring back the cook-off.
“Why try and replace something that’s already such a success?,” he asks. “Nobody sees this street any more. This event was a big draw.”
For the last six years, the four- day event attracted more than 25,000 people to sample food cooked by internationally renowned rib specialists from Ontario, the United States, and Australia.
Merchants on Sparks Street are divided over the event. Some suggest it brings much-needed attention to the area. Others argue the cooking odour and greasy mess don’t fit the street’s image and annoy their clientele.
The division was reflected among the 14 members of the committee who have deliberated since January about whether to hold the event. A final meeting last month killed the cook-off by one vote.
“It’s stinky, it’s dirty, it’s no good for my business,” says Franco Morgante, manager of Morgante Menswear Limited and one of the merchants on the committee who voted to cancel the event.
“Once they’re finished eating the ribs, they won’t come in and buy a suit,” he says. “I don’t want them to come in with their greasy fingers anyway.”
Bill Cornet, owner of Classico Uomo, also voted to cancel the event, which he calls “tacky and disgusting.”
“I think something like that belongs at the Ottawa Ex, not Sparks Street Mall,” he says.
The committee is considering replacing the cook-off with either an Italian or Celtic festival, and will listen to merchants making presentations for both proposals.
Ron Mathews, an Industry Canada employee, says he won’t miss the cook-off and doubts many people made a special trip to Sparks Street to attend.
“I’ve been working here for six years and I’m up and down the mall all the time and I couldn’t be bothered with it,” he says.