HomeMy WebLinkAbout2014-09-25
DOWNTOWN ACTION & ADVISORY COMMITTEE MINUTES
September 25, 2014 City of Kitchener
The Downtown Action & Advisory Committee met this date, commencing at 4:10 p.m.
Present: Chaired by Melissa Bowman, Craig Beattie, Tania Benninger, Eric Johnson,
Amina Gilani, Lawrence McNaught, D. Morton, and Linda Yutzi
Staff: Cory Bluhm, Monika Grau and Sandy Curzon
C. Bluhm introduced Linda Yutzi, the .
1. New Business
2014/2015 Meeting Schedule
After a brief discussion, those in attendance had no concerns changing the DAAC
rd
meeting time to 4-5:30pm and meeting date to the 3 Thursday of the month, starting in
December 2014.
Action: Staff will discuss the proposed changes with the City Cler Office.
Summer Festival & Event Debrief
The following comments were provided based on the 2014 downtown events to assist
when setting the programming of events for 2015.
Although Canada Day was well attended, some committee members felt that it
was not as good as previous years
Licensed events with fenced areas created congregations of smokers and some
intoxicated people
BIA prefers to book a band that would attract an audience in line with their
demographic target (people who eat and shop downtown). Canada Day is a lot of
money for BIA to invest in for one day when downtown stores cannot be open
(stores are closed for holiday)
Police presence in drinking area made it seem like a hostile area
Big one-off events (i.e. Blues, Cruise) bring people downtown for 5 hours,
however they are not staying or coming back downtown to shop
Planters and store fronts need to be cleaned up to encourage event attendees to
stay or return
How do we measure success? Did people shop during events; will they come
back to shop?
How do we get the downtown day population to come back at night?
We need more stores with good offerings to encourage event goers to shop
Need more selection of stores downtown
Need bigger sponsors for both big and small events
BIA criteria for evaluating events Do the businesses benefit? Does the event
create a positive image for downtown? And, are people coming back to shop?
VIP area should be moved to allow for pedestrian flow throughout civic square
Downtown Action & Advisory Committee September 25, 2014
Summer Lights; Food Truck Festival; Days of Awesome; Art Markets were spread
out throughout a few blocks which provided a community feel, people stayed
longer
Have more community feel
Package and advertise a series of events i.e. Downtown Music Series; Downtown
Entertainment Series
Ottawa BIA used landscaping, art and music to turn their downtown around
Civic District
C. Bluhm provided an overview of the potential intensification options for the Civic
District. The City of Kitchener owns the land. Aside from residential, what other uses
are needed? Some suggestions include:
Needs to have an urban neighbourhood feel
High quality destination shopping including restaurants for before and after events
For any business to survive, it needs to be able to service the existing population
within their neighbourhood/district
Art space, communal mid-week art market
High-end residential with great public space including water features
Grocery store/restaurant. It was pointed out however, that currently there are not
enough residents within the area to sustain this type of business
Consider a permanent space for Food Trucks to come and go
2. Information Items
Major Development Updates
C. Beatty elaborated on the new businesses opening at 305 King St.W. During the
grand opening of Square, co-founder Jack Dorsey had positive things to say about
downtown Kitchener, advising us to continue to focus on our own unique niche.
The September update is attached.
2014-09 EconDev
Project Update.pdf
3. Adjournment
On motion, meeting adjourned at 5:28 p.m.
4. Future Agenda Items:
a) Cycling Study
b) Heritage Places Study
c) KEDS - priorities
S. Curzon
Committee Coordinator
Downtown Action & Advisory Committee September 25, 2014