A much-anticipated report on the opening of Sault Ste. Marie's $11.6-million downtown plaza contains no firm opening date.
Tom Vair, the city's deputy chief administrative officer for community development and enterprise services, will tell city council on Monday that some features of the controversial project aren't expected to arrive at the job site until the end of next month.
"Construction of the downtown plaza is nearing completion and staff are looking forward to launching this new community facility in the fall," Vair says in a report prepared for Monday's council meeting.
"Due to supply-chain issues, the stage and digital screen is anticipated to arrive at the end of September. Installation is anticipated to take approximately two weeks with all components of the downtown plaza ready mid-October," Vair says.
"The other features of the plaza will be ready earlier."
The original target date for completion was Friday, July 28 but city officials have expected for many weeks that the work would extend into August.
Meanwhile, the opening of Soo Market (formerly known as Mill Market) nearby at 73 Brock St. is set for Sept. 23.
"The grand opening of the Mill Market... will be an opportunity to launch the mobile retail units located in the lower area of the downtown plaza," Vair says.
"The Mill Market will soon be announcing the new vendors who are an exciting addition to the downtown plaza."
Vair says plans to activate the plaza include the following fall and winter events:
- concerts
- movie nights
- Greyhound game day activities
- Hallowe’en related activities
- FIFA World Cup
- cultural events
- Christmas-themed events
The following are excerpts from the report Vair will present to city council on Monday:
The downtown plaza provides a great new addition to the downtown for passive use with the water feature fountain, play structure, seating and lighting, providing an attractive place for visitors to the downtown.
The project began in 2019 and was constructed through a period of significant change due to the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact to supply chain and the construction industry.
Now that it is nearing completion, staff looks forward to activating the space alongside community partners and the downtown business community.
A key component to the downtown plaza is having activity throughout the year. The features of the plaza... will help to draw people to the plaza year-round.
Staff would like to thank the community for the generous contributions of over $1.2M and funding from other levels of government of $750,000. These contributors will be recognized in the plaza for their generosity and community support.
The downtown plaza is central to the vision to advance the downtown and complements recent projects contributing to downtown revitalization including:
- Bay Street redevelopment
- Bondar Marina upgrade
- boardwalk promenade extension
- Mill Market relocation
- mobile rental units
There are over 300 businesses in the downtown. The downtown has experienced significant investment over the last 11 years with values of more than $121M in building permits.
The recent announcement by Station Mall of an investment of over $60M is another indication of the growth and support for the downtown.
Part of the goal of the plaza is to incentivize further investment in the downtown. Having a location that appeals to residents will help to improve the potential for businesses and attract residential development.
The city received numerous letters of support from community cultural groups and organizations to host events in the plaza.
The importance of attracting newcomers and retaining youth in the community to address our aging demographic and need to fill workforce requirements cannot be understated to the future success of the community.
The health of a community’s downtown is vital to economic development. It is one of the most important factors that businesses, labour force, students and youth use to assess the health of a community.
Sault Ste. Marie is blessed with a beautiful waterfront and the vision for a vibrant downtown neighbourhood with new residential and commercial development is underway. The downtown plaza will complement the downtown and serve the community for generations to come.
Monday's city council meeting will be livestreamed on SooToday starting at 5 p.m.