MBiz

44 december 2017 BY SHERRY KANIUGA T he scene is all too familiar: Progress on the outskirts of a small rural city helps build it up, but leaves a formerly vibrant downtown retail district with less traffic, fewer shoppers and a growing number of empty buildings. Citizens of Selkirk, just 30 minutes north of Winnipeg, know the feeling. But the community of 10,300 isn't leaving it to their municipal government to address alone. They're giving revitalization of their historic downtown a kickstart with a winter street festival that is intended to demonstrate what is possible for their old downtown. The City of Selkirk, provincial and federal governments recently announced they will invest $26 million in bricks-and-mortar upgrades, starting in 2018, towards the Downtown Selkirk Renewal Strategy. The renewal focuses on three major streets — the parallel Main Street and Eveline Street, and the section of Manitoba Avenue that runs between the two. In February 2017 a group of volunteers, some of whom sat on the downtown revitalization advisory committee, looked at adopting one city block in downtown, renaming it Holiday Alley for a weekend, and filling it with light, art, sound and creativity. They wanted to take their vast experience with the Christmas-themed Homes for the Holidays House and Heritage Tours and apply their skills to an entire city block, instead of just living rooms and kitchens. "We hope Holiday Alley will be a demonstration sport of what our downtown could look and feel like when we all own a piece of downtown revitalization," says Lois Wales, a Holiday Alley volunteer and president of Red River North Tourism. Today, with more social service agencies and second-hand depots than retail stores on Manitoba Ave. East, there is a sense that the old downtown is on the brink of something new. In the last year alone a juice bar, new barber shop and a home furnishing decor store have moved onto the strip. "All these things help bring back that heartbeat that comes with a strong, vibrant downtown, to create more development, more economic impact to the community, and more residential development too," says Selkirk Mayor Larry Johannson. "But it's more than just city planning; this takes the whole community. And it is the whole community that has come forward and looked at our vision and brought their own ideas and added them into that," Johannson says. Holiday Alley activities held Dec. 1-2 were purposefully positioned inside and outside buildings up and down Manitoba Ave. East to encourage people to step inside places they may not have visited before to see art, enjoy music, hear storytellers, make a craft, and sample chili and bannock, says Shirley Muir, a Holiday Alley volunteer. "We know from the houses and churches on the Homes for Holidays tours that people are curious about what goes on inside a place, but might not feel they can step into it for the first time. That's true whether it's a church, a pawn shop or a skateboard store. But once inside, they might find something they like and stay longer in our community," says Muir. She estimates Holiday Alley events will invest over $100,000 in cash (and thousands of hours of volunteer time) marketing the downtown, filling it with activity and leaving a legacy of lights and ideas behind, along with revenue for participating host businesses. Coun. Ken Beerman, who leads the downtown renewal strategy, says the city expects Holiday Alley to be a catalyst in spreading the downtown renewal vision. "This shows the community and the region the phenomenal growth and economic impact opportunities we have. It's bringing those extra eyes and ears, some for the first time, and welcoming them to our city," says Beerman. "The amount of work that the volunteers have been doing over the last year to fulfil their vision for Holiday Alley is really in direct line of what we want to see happen downtown." ■ Festival heralds downtown Selkirk renewal street dreams

• Cover