By Shirley Hsu
Bank Street business owners are relieved construction between Laurier and Wellington has ended allowing business to get back to normal. However, they continue to be worried about next year’s construction from Gilmour to Laurier. They said it will slow down traffic and they may see sales drop.
Businesses owners on Bank from Laurier to Wellington said that their sales dropped during the past two summers.
The project that began in 2006 saw new underground infrastructure such as water mains and sewers installed, project manager Richard Holder said. The second phase was from April to September. 2007; workers reconstructed the roads, rebuilt concrete sidewalks, planted trees, and added lights.
The next phase of the construction is planned to start in mid-April 2008; it will begin at Gilmour, extending to Laurier.
GNC owner Earl Milks said his store, which is located at the corner of Bank and Laurier, saw a sales drop of more than 20 per cent. “People that normally shop downtown Bank did not want to come because they said it was like a war zone,” Milks said. He held sales and specials to draw more people to the store.
Jean Martin, owner of Images On Bank in Centretown, saw his sales fall around 20 per cent over the last two years. He also held sales to attract more customers. “We were quite aggressive,” Martin said. “Even now we have an end of construction sale.”
“This year [the construction] was more disruptive because they did the sidewalks,” Richard Brunet said, manager of Moores, a men’s clothing store located at the corner of Bank and Laurier.
Even people who work in the neighbourhood did not shop on Bank as often as before the construction, Brunet said. “Customers that did come in said they avoided coming at lunch time because of the terror outside.”
The City of Ottawa held open meetings inviting store owners to discuss concerns and make suggestions. But business owners are not receiving tax breaks from the city.
“We cannot give tax rebates because there are so many businesses,” Somerset Ward Coun. Diane Holmes said.
Bank Street Promenade begins at Gladstone and ends at Wellington. It is about 15 blocks with more than 200 stores on it.
Milks said that the city could have been more considerate of the construction impact on business owners. “Why couldn’t they start work at 4 p.m. till dark?”
“We did do some work through the night,” Holder said. “But it is difficult to get workers to work through the night on a long term basis, and it increases cost substantially.”
While he is frustrated, Milks said he understands the need for the reconstruction.
“I sound negative because it was two years in a row,” he said. “But there is no doubt it was needed and it is going to make Bank Street Promenade a much more attractive place for shoppers to shop.”
He said it will take time for sales to return to their usual levels. He said that once a market trend changes, it is difficult and time consuming for business to get back to normal.
Even though the construction planned for 2008 will not be right in front of his store, Milks said it will create heavy traffic and in turn effect his business.
But as Martin pointed out, “We are just happy that this is over now, and we are trying to enjoy this before we have to think about the next year.”