The Downtown Bradford Revitalization Committee met Wednesday evening and heartily endorsed the need for further work towards a permanent, seasonal patio program for the downtown that grows out of the experience of the temporary program for COVID-19 and ties into the longer-term reconstruction of Holland Street.
“I’ve heard from community members, they’ve gone downtown and never seen it so lively, it’s great to see and it’s what it’s about to be part of a community,” said Stephen Dykie, vice-chair of the committee. “The fact the town is moving ahead to a second patio program next year is a sign of life and hope for businesses who are going through a tough time.”
COVID-19 was something of “a test case for what [Holland Street] could look like after redevelopment in the future,” suggested Terry Foran, the Director of Community Services.
For his part, Mayor Rob Keffer spoke in favour of staff continuing to work through the details, saying, “This committee supports a permanent, seasonal patio program moving forward.”
The patio program fits into a broader draft “Economic Development Resiliency and Recovery Strategy (2020-2021)” for the town, the first goal of which is to “Create an attractive and vibrant downtown core that attracts residents and visitors and facilitates a thriving business environment.”
The draft strategy outlines seven objectives for downtown Bradford, including starting with the need to create a master plan for the downtown, with specific goals around town-managed public spaces, a “buy local” marketing campaign, integration with transit, monitoring vacancies and working to attract “anchor” tenants, and liaising with Simcoe County’s tourism department.
The draft strategy also advocates working with local business owners to create a Business Improvement Plan to “find ways to increase collaboration, cohesion and commitment amongst business and property owners in the downtown with consideration to create a Business Improvement Area.”
The need for town-run public spaces is a core goal, with the strategy advocating “the creation of well used public space in the downtown core….Specific attractions may include the development of a public square in conjunction with a civic centre and a market/co-working space”, referring to long-standing plans around revitalizing the community centre to include a town hall.
With MPP Caroline Mulroney indicating improvements to the GO train station will be coming later this year or early next, the plan ties in to that project by pledging to “support the transportation division to ensure transit hubs are well connected and integrated with the downtown core.”
Finally, the strategy proposes to “Create a marketing campaign to build awareness about downtown businesses and amenities to draw residents and visitors to the downtown.”
“The plan is extremely comprehensive,” said Mike Disano, Manager of Economic Development. “Rest assured you’ll be hearing more about this in the coming weeks and months.”