All scheduled events on Sault Ste. Marie's pandemic-ravaged Queen Street are cancelled until at least July, directors of the Downtown Association decided this week.
But the 44-year-old business group has agreed to use $70,000 from its cash reserves to reduce the mandatory annual levy paid by Queenstown businesses and property owners.
"We anticipate there will be further cancellations or postponements but we don't have firm decisions on those yet," Kristi Cistaro, Downtown Association chair, told SooToday.
"We have been monitoring the recommendations of both Algoma Public Health and the provincial government and feel that in the interest of public safety and the continued recommendation of social distancing, that this is the best course of action currently," the business group said in a social-media post Thursday,
"We know that all the events hosted by the Downtown Association are much loved and memory-making for our community but at this time we still need to do whatever we can to flatten the curve."
"This decision was not an easy one to make and rest assured we will continue to monitor the situation and advise the community of event updates as soon as we can."
Cancelled events include:
- May 2 - Junk in the Trunk - Sault's largest garage sale
- May 25-29 - National Historic Week official application launch
- June 19-27 - Full Moon Fest
- June 19 - World Refugee Day
Regarding this week's decision to use $70,000 in surplus cash to provide levy relief, Cistaro said the levy calculations are complicated and she was unable to estimate how much relief a typical Downtown Association member might receive, but the levy payable on each address will be reduced by an amount commensurate to its property assessment and other factors.
"We're doing our best to provide as much assistance to our members as we can," Cistaro said.
Major 2020 events that have so far not been cancelled include Poutine Feast (July 1-5), and downtown street parties on July 16 and Aug. 13.Rotary Club of Sault Ste. Marie announced last week that this year's Rotaryfest will not take place in July, but will be postponed to an as-yet-undetermined date.
