Summerside's downtown revitalization effort has businesses feeling some hope

Hoping to drive more people downtown and breathe more life into the area, the City of Summerside is now going over a number of recommendations on how to revitalize its downtown and waterfront. 

A committee made up of members of the public and councillors provided a list this past spring with recommendations as part of a 10-year plan the P.E.I. city of 17,000 people is drafting. 

"A lot of the recommendations centre around finding ways to get people living, working and spending money in the downtown, making it a place [where] people want to spend and enjoy time," said Cory Snow, the city's deputy mayor.

The city has previously said the downtown is in decline, with many businesses leaving or shutting down. Snow said a number of projects on the go over the last few months will help fix that. 

"The curling and yacht club, it's now in a revamp stage. Spinnakers' Landing, it had a new model and ownership takeover and there's lots of life and hustle and bustle around there.... At the Shipyard market, you'll see all the work going on here and the opening of a brand-new restaurant."

The Summerside Shipyard restaurant recently opened its doors after a new ownership group renovated the property over the winter. Snow said it's one of the first revitalization projects to be completed. 

He said a couple of new apartment projects will also help bring people downtown.

"We want areas and businesses in the downtown that people are excited to go and see and spend money at, and we're continuing to do that," Snow said. 

'We should do something'

Local businesses like G&T Book Cafe Inc. said the revitalization project will help the city greatly. 

"We can get more customers, tourists. They would come here more and we'll be happy," said Dai Cao, who owns the Vietnamese restaurant. 

Cao said he's recently seen businesses close down or move to other parts of Summerside where there might be more shoppers and larger buildings to move into. 

I think we're seeing the benefits of it now and we'll see it long into the future if we're willing to take a little bit of risk for long-term reward.— Cory Snow

"Tourists and cruise ships, they go to Charlottetown, so we should do something, change something to get more tourists, to get more customers, more people to support the Summerside community," said Cao. 

Snow said he doesn't see this 10-year plan losing any momentum, since it has a strong commitment from council. The hope is to finalize the complete revitalization plan by the fall. 

"I think we're seeing the benefits of it now and we'll see it long into the future if we're willing to take a little bit of risk for long-term reward," said Snow. 

"It takes longer than I would like, but I do see growth, I do see progress, and I hope the public sees that progress as well and we continue to see that investment in our downtown."