By Katarzyna Pipin
Some Sparks Street Mall merchants are proposing the return of the streetcar as a means of boosting their business and linking downtown to the O-Train at Bayview. As well as drawing people to the capital, retailers say an electrically powered car would help to restore its heritage.
“As a merchant and a pedestrian, I see it as a way of keeping Ottawa alive and well,” says Jack Cook, owner of Canada’s Four Corners store.
As one of the originators of the idea, Cook wants the old Ottawa revitalized. Many retailers who work on the street agree it has the potential to attract many more people than it does now.
“The new steel structures have done a lot to deaden the street. It’s a heritage street so we need something to brighten it,” he says.
Streetcars operated in Ottawa until the late 1950s. Now, merchants are calling for the restoration of the trolley as a way of connecting the past with the future.
If the O-Train pilot project is successful, OC Transpo plans to extend light rail into downtown.
Cook says if that happens, Sparks would be ideal as the connecting route. He says in the past, Sparks used to be the centre for the streetcar business.
“You could call it Grand Central Station,” he says. “When people think trolley, they think Sparks.”
Bert Titcomb, national office manager for Transport 2000 Canada, says cities such as Toronto and Vancouver have retained their streetcars and still use them for transportation.
Although the streetcar idea originated as a suggestion for increasing tourism and business, Titcomb says it would also serve as a viable mode of transportation for the downtown public.
The idea of restoring one in Ottawa is practical but expensive, Titcomb says.
“The city would certainly have to put money into it, but I think it would benefit a lot of corporate donors and merchants,” he says.
Some retailers are hesitant about introducing vehicles to the street.
“I’m against any traffic on the mall,” says Eric Schwartz, owner of Ottawa Leather Goods. “I don’t think it’s necessary. Sparks Street Mall is only four blocks long.” Schwartz wants to see Sparks remain a pedestrian street.
Holly Layte, owner of The Marvellous Mustard Shop on Sparks, is enthusiastic about the possibility of having a streetcar running along the street.
She says this is a project that Ottawa, retailers and tourists would support.
“When tourists come to Ottawa, what they love most about Sparks is the heritage. It could have very exciting consequences for the downtown core.”