Downtown looking up

Spring is a time of renewal — and city officials hope that’s especially true of Red Deer’s downtown.

With warmer weather approaching, the City of Red Deer’s greater downtown co-ordinator, Ed Morris, said two sidewalk cafes — in front of La Casa Pergola and Cafe Pichilingue — are about to open to help make the downtown more appealing to pedestrians.

Police officers are also about to start their bicycle patrols. And, once schools are out for the summer, Morris said more community police officers will be available to help beef up foot patrols of the downtown.

Boosting public confidence in the city centre was a major issue in the last municipal election.

Morris sees no single solution, so the city and downtown business association are using a multi-pronged approach to tackle various problems the public have identified.

As part of the crime-reduction efforts, Morris private property owners are now required to remove graffiti within a timely manner or risk fines.

Penalties for graffiti offences were hiked to $2,500 from the former $300 in March, and Morris believes he’s already seen results.

“Twice this year we’ve apprehended individuals involved with graffiti,” he said, noting the daylight incidents were reported by passersby and quickly acted on.

Since city utility boxes are often targeted for graffiti, Morris said they are being covered with plastic murals of historic Red Deer.

And additional city commissionaires are also patrolling City Hall park to make sure it’s being used appropriately. “We’ve gone from zero (commissionaires) to one, to two.”

As for improving the downtown’s aesthetics, Morris said there will be an adopt-a-planter program, more wrought-iron furniture and banners. “We’ll be doing as many things as we can do,” he added, to make the city’s core more appealing to residents.

New lower ornamental lights have been proposed for Gaetz Avenue because they are brighter than existing street lights.

But Morris isn’t sure whether this will happen this year. “We’ll have to see how much money is in the budget.”

Complaints about loitering people were taken up with social care agencies in the downtown. Morris said the city also removed benches from certain corners, and police patrols are being encouraged to move loiterers along.

Red Deer Downtown Business Association executive director Laura Turner believes loitering has lessened, but will never totally go away.

The real answer, she said, is to have more of the general population live, work and shop downtown. Turner’s association is looking at ways to create more diverse downtown development, including housing.

Downtown business owner Laura Cadrin, of La Petite Jeune Fleur, said she sees many improvements and hopes other Red Deer residents will too.

“I think they’re doing a pretty good job with all of that. But I think it’s also up to shop owners to keep the downtown clean . . . I hope (the city centre) will attract more people to create more vibrancy.”

Contact Lana Michelin at lmichelin@reddeeradvocate.com