By Drew Davidson
While the Elgin Area Business A ssociation says it is working in the street’s interest, some business owners say a lack of vision and resistance from other businesses are working against it.
Some merchants say the street needs better organization and leadership to make business boom.
Elgin Street is a popular tourist attraction for the City of Ottawa with a close proximity to Parliament Hill and the Byward Market. It also provides tourists with shops, restaurants and nightclubs.
Jason Crew-Gee, owner of Woody’s Restaurant on Elgin Street, says, in his 14 years there, most attempts to bring the street together have fallen apart. Recently, he adds, this has taken a toll on his restaurant.
“We haven’t done anything to improve the street,” he says. “Some owners are quite happy taking care of themselves but if they can’t look at the bigger picture, we’re all going to be in trouble someday.”
Brian Karam, president of the Elgin Area Business Association and owner of MacLaren’s On Elgin, says the street’s small, family-run businesses provide an atmosphere different from other areas of the city.
He says the street’s business association should reflect this.
“It’s a self-help situation here,” he says. “We simply try to take care of the street. I think Elgin Street can take care of itself.”
Still, Karam says it is often hard to maintain the local businesses’ interest in the association.
Crew-Gee says this attitude is obvious and the association needs to do more to engage everyone.
“It’s hard to get all the bars and the restaurants on the same page as the shops and the hairdressers,” he says.
“We need someone with the vision and the organization to take care of this.”
At Vanilla Boutique, a women’s clothing store, manager Shelly Chinn says the street is already working together. In her 22 years working at Vanilla, she says Elgin Street has always provided a friendly and community-minded atmosphere.
“You’ve got Jack Purcell [community centre] and the school and the churches and the businesses in its own little microcosm,” says Chinn.
But, she adds, her store has never been involved in the business association. Chinn says it is hard to find time for involvement and has doubts that the association can tackle the diverse needs of the community.
“There are so many different needs,” she says. “One of the main needs is better parking, but I don’t know what you can do about that because there is no space.”
Karam says the business association has worked on a number of initiatives, including the beautification of Minto Park. Currently, it is working on a website, due to launch at the end of the month, and an initiative to keep troublemakers off the street.
This initiative will enforce a rule that if someone is kicked out of an Elgin Street bar, that person will be banned from the street.
Crew-Gee says while communication is important, he would like to see a business association more like the Byward Market Business Improvement Area. Business Improvement Areas (BIAs) exist throughout Ottawa where merchants work together to make improvements and host events. The city helps these areas by collecting a zone levy which is returned to the BIA to assist with its finances.
Crew-Gee says he wants Elgin Street to be a place where you can spend your entire day.
“We need to get people to come shop here, have lunch here while they’re shopping, then go out for a nice dinner,” he says.
Karam says the business association will not become an official BIA any time soon. He says Elgin Street is much different from the Byward Market and requires a different approach. He also says he does not like the city’s BIA structure which includes an elected Board of Management and involvement by a member of city council.
For now, he says Elgin Street will take care of itself.
“We’ve gotten along so far and our attitude is, if it’s working, we should stick with it,” he says.