Centretown residents are gearing up for the 2008 Help Santa Toy Parade on Saturday, but they may have to make alternate plans for next year’s festivities.
“This could be the last year for this parade route,” says Rob Collins, the parade’s chairperson. “[Over] the next two years, the parade will not be able to go downtown.”
The Bank Street rehabilitation project has slowed and redirected traffic in Centretown since 2006. If the city approves further budget allocations, construction will continue until 2010. This will see the street closed from Somerset Street to Gladstone Avenue in 2009.
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Construction, in fact, may prevent the parade from going down Bank Street entirely, bypassing a path that has been part of the parade’s traditional route for the past 40 years.
Parade organizers have already redirected the 2008 parade away from one stretch of Bank Street due to construction. Currently, the north end of Bank near Laurier Avenue is blocked to traffic, prompting organizers to bypass this section and send the parade south down O’Connor Street, turning onto Bank after Gladstone.
Last year, the parade route was also changed at the last minute because construction. Organizers were made aware of the construction earlier this year and planned accordingly.
Ainsley Shepherd, the city’s special events and traffic coordinator, says the 2009 parade route has not yet been decided.
“We will meet with organizers next year, once we know the construction plans for Bank Street as per budget approvals,” she said.
Depending on what route organizers choose next year, Collins says, it could mean potential disruptions downtown. The parade will still begin at City Hall, but finding its way to Lansdowne Park may prove too challenging.
Luke Foley, the project manager for the Bank Street reconstruction project, says city officials are trying to keep alternative routes available.
“We’re keeping the cross-streets open – particularly Gladstone,” he says.
He notes that as construction continues down Bank Street in 2009-2010, traffic may have to turn onto Catherine and O’Connor streets.
“We haven’t sorted out what we’re going to do. We might jump the Queensway and start [construction] in the Glebe,” says Foley.
The parade route changes are not fazing Bank BIA board member Stephen Tanner. Tanner says he is not sure about potential impacts for Bank Street businesses if they reroute the 2009 parade, but says he will “worry about that next year.”
Tanner, who is also the general manager of the Staples Business Depot on Bank Street near Waverley, does see more people inside the store on parade day, mostly because of its washroom.
He expects that even with the parade going down O’Connor it should be the same.
“With everyone being just a half a block away, I don’t know if I’ll notice any difference.”
Once the construction on Bank Street is finished, the parade will be able to open up possibilities for Centretown businesses.
“We’re going to want people who wouldn’t normally come except for once a year [for the parade] to come down and say: ‘What did they do to Bank street?’ ” says Tanner.
Although no new parade route has been finalized, Collins says parade organizers have considered alternative paths. Although he does not want to specify anything at this time, he does want the community to be aware of that major changes appear likely – including a “whole new route in the future” when the parade “will not be able to go down Bank Street.”