YORKTON — How does one ‘revitalize’ the downtown in Yorkton?
That was the core question the Yorkton Business Improvement District and the City of Yorkton asked as at a Reimagine Downtown Yorkton event in the city Wednesday.
What was basically a brainstorming session for ideas attracted downtown business people, YBID members, members of Yorkton Council and others to National Bank Convention Place in the Gallagher Centre to look at what might be done to raise the community profile of the core area.
Kaitlyn Kitzan, Executive Director with YBID began the evening noting the event was “all about ideas” with the focus not on what barriers may exist but on the opportunities. She said it was a night “as a team to really reimagine our city.”
When asked for the positives the answers fed into an online site via cellphones by those attending suggested things such as potential for growth, family roots, and the city having most things yet not being too big.
But the view was less positive when the question asked was for a single word to describe the downtown area.
“I’m not going to lie a lot of the words are depressing,” said Kitzan as she read out examples which included tired, old, empty, sad and gray.
There are existing programs to help revitalize downtown buildings, a trio of which were reviewed by the City’s business liaison Jennifer Brooker before those attending were put to work to come up with some ideas of what might be done.
The morning after the event Yorkton Mayor Aaron Kienle, who was in attendance Wednesday, admitted he has not heard anything that was particularly new. However, it was a process that did dovetail with a city initiative that has hired a consultant to review city programs and policies and to come up with a report of what might be done with a similar goal, he told Yorkton This Week.
“This will feed into that, so it’s not going to be a one off thing,” he said.
Kienle said the solution will not necessarily be easily found, as there are a number of factors in play.
For example, you want new business to fill currently empty buildings, with the hope those new business attract a greater number of people to stimulate the broader downtown area, he said, but then added entrepreneurs are often looking for increased traffic as a signal before opening new business.
Kitzan said the event was a step toward “turning some challenges into opportunities” by simply getting people thinking about solutions.
While noting there “are lots of things in play” Kitzan said at least the process is started toward hopefully growing the downtown core.
