Consultants present revitalization ideas for downtown core

News — 06 December 2011

By Ally Dunham

The Dryden Development Corporation (DDC) is looking at a complete restructure of the downtown core for the purpose of revitalization.

The hired consultant for the DDC, Harry Finnigan of McKay Finnigan and Associates in Winnipeg, said, “We’re inviting the people of Dryden to come and look at some ideas that have been generated on what can be done to revitalize the downtown. Through the study that we’ve been doing for the DDC, we met with a number of leaders, done a bit of research on what’s changing in the city.”

Through an open house hosted by the DDC on Dec. 2, residents were welcomed to come and see plans of what the city has in mind.

“We’ve heard that there is a real need for more executive class housing, seniors housing. We’ve heard that a lot of people find the idea of living downtown an attractive proposition. You would be able to walk to shops, the river walk, to church,” said Finnigan. “Since we’ve started the study, we’ve also seen signs of positive change. There has been on this one block on King St. there have been about three properties that have changed hands, businesses moving in, and a sense of optimism.”

Finnigan says the downtown area is a very important part of the city, calling it “the heart of the city” and says their firm has come up with some concepts to get people thinking about what would make sense for Dryden.

“We’ve come up with two different sites. One is the block of King St. to Queen, between Whyte and Earl. It’s mixed-use development and it’s two story along King St. Going further back, it’s higher density and could be four or five stories. Housing above, retail on the main floor, and offices above,” said Finnigan. “The other site that we’re looking at is on Earl, where the old hotel (the Central) is, and across the street where there’s parking, looking at housing and mixed use retail.”

Finnigan says there is call for a new library to be built and a new civic space for residents to congregate.

“When I say these are concepts, they are just that. They are ideas to generate ideas, to find out what people think,” said Finnigan.

When asked by an attendee what the Legion and the local businesses think of plans that don’t include their continued presence in the downtown, Finnigan’s staff replied that they have not been consulted at this time, as the plans are currently only a concept.

The consultants are asking for public feedback by early to mid-December, as they need to report to the DDC and recommend next steps. The plans are to be posted on the DDC website, for further review, including the survey form that the consultant is looking to have returned.

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