Foot traffic in downtown Belleville is increasing, attendance at special events downtown is up, traffic to Belleville Downtown Improvement Area’s new website and Facebook page is up a lot, so things are moving in the right direction.
That was the main message coming from the Annual General Meeting of the BDIA Tuesday night.
Chair of BDIA Board of Directors Kathryn Brown. (Photo: Quinte News)
Kathryn Brown, Chair of the Board of Directors, told members that 2019 was a year of change.
“We hired a new Executive Director and a Marketing and Media Officer and they’ve done a great job. We just launched a new website. We had new events and things are looking up. However, we’ve got to continue to promote, continue to be upbeat, to change the perception of the downtown amongst people who haven’t been here in the past few years. If they come downtown they’ll likely be impressed.”
The truth in the above statement is borne out in a survey of visitors to downtown Belleville taken recently. Eight out of ten respondents said they would recommend the downtown to their friends and family.
BDIA Executive Director Marijo Cuerrier said the survey results were heartening but also proved that changing perceptions would continue to be a main focus of effort for some time to come.
“We don’t have to work on people’s perceptions of the downtown if they’ve been here recently. They’re sold on the buzz, the vibe in the core. They know we’re going in the right direction. We have to reach those people who haven’t been here in some time.”
Marketing and Media Officer Kelsey Moniz (left) and Executive Director Marijo Cuerrier. (Photo: Quinte News)
The BDIA has put more focus on advertising and promotion in digital media this year and it has been very effective. Also, a focus on radio advertising for special events has proven to work well to boost attendance at special events and that media will continue to be employed by the organization.
In other BDIA news, 14 special events have been or will be held this year, with most of them having at least 500 participants or more. Downtown at Dusk was a huge success with over 4,500 registered attendees and the “market” held at the four corners on Santa Claus Parade day last Sunday was very busy.
It’s expected the downtown will be packed again Saturday December 7 for an event entitled Enchanted Night Market. North America’s premier Elton John tribute band Elton Rohn will be performing.
In another recent survey 53% of downtown Belleville business owners said that business had either significantly improved or somewhat improved in the past year. Only 5.8% said business was worse. Half of business owners surveyed were either satisfied or very satisfied with the downtown as a place to do business.
Business owners listed four areas needing improvement, those being parking, perception, foot traffic and safety/security.
The BDIA will soon be releasing a policy regarding safety/security.
There is general agreement that more residential units need to be available in the downtown or nearby.
Executive Director Marijo Cuerrier said she is optimistic a significant number of new residential units will be created in the next couple of years. “It will be interesting to see what happens with the Memorial Arena. I believe the proposals call for at least some residential to be involved.”
She said talks will continue with the city and other levels of government to help downtown building owners get financing to be able to afford to renovate unused and sometimes rundown second, third and fourth floors in heritage buildings to allow for more apartments to be built.
The members approved a $300,000 budget for 2020. The amount of money coming from the membership will remain the same as last year, at $275,000.
