Thank you from Sydney Waterfront District Association
Community effort helped produce ‘amazing transformation’
If you’ve visited Sydney Waterfront District (SWDA) this past summer, you will have seen an amazing transformation of Charlotte Street. Considerable work, planning and financial support went into these projects so we’re saying “thank you” to everyone who contributed.
The Sydney Waterfront District in Bloom Program saw the installation of a brightly coloured “Welcome to Sydney Waterfront District” sign in the Desbarres parkette; Adirondack chairs and benches; wayfinding signs; and baskets and barrels overflowing with flowers.
This year the province introduced a Beautification and Streetscaping Program which allowed the Sydney Waterfront District Association to leverage contributions of its own as well as from merchants. The total cost of the project was approximately $50,000, of which $25,000 was awarded from the province. This would not have happened without local businesses who saw the value of investing in our community.
Special thanks to Councillor Steve Gillespie and Deputy Mayor Eldon MacDonald for their support in recruiting businesses. Contributions for the blossoming were courtesy the following:
OTS Ltd, Spinner’s Men’s Wear, CB Centre for Craft and Design, Pharmasave, Timeless Moments, CB Curiosity Shop, Maritime Travel, Sydney & Area Chamber of Commerce, Reiker by Shoe Tree, The Cape 94.9 Radio, Flavor Downtown, Finishing Touch Center, Sydney Credit Union, Daniel’s Restaurant & Bar, Scotiabank, KKP, Downtown Dental, MacKenzie Morgan Law Inc., Breton Law Group, MacLeod Lorway Insurance, Wilson Investments, Rita Anderson & Associates INC, Vibe Creative Group, Cape Breton Fudge Co., Chill Zone Cool Treats, Councillor Steve Gillespie
We would also like to express our gratitude to the local businesses who worked with us to make our vision come to life. They included:
• James Sawlor, owner of Mabou Gardens and his staff - Garrett, Jordan and Derek - who carried out installation and maintenance of the flowers.
• Larry Buck for his ergonomically designed and hand-crafted chairs and benches.
• Mr. Paint for carefully matching the paint colours to our brand, and the SWDA staff who painted them Megan, Brett, Rory, Tori, Kelsie, Jack and Jessie (a special thanks to federal and provincial governments for student summer grants).
• Mike Van of VanGo Signs who created the design and produced the wayfinding and welcome signage, and Bradley Murphy for his graphic design work.
This project alone has had a huge impact on the atmosphere on Charlotte Street.
Along with this, a vacant lot was transformed into a welcoming parkette and gateway to Bentinck Street and Highland Arts Theatre. Work included the addition of a walkway, plants and benches; barns painted, weeds pulled, etc. Flower barrels surrounding a set of chairs and directional signs created a welcoming entrance to the site. Assistance was given by way of volunteer hours, monetary contributions and lots of elbow grease. A second lot has been identified for beautification and work has already started with more to come.
Additional work was carried out to remove weeds and debris in various areas, as well as other beautification efforts. Many thanks to all those people and businesses that made these transformations possible. Their names can be found on our Facebook page.
Our operational budget comes from a levy on commercially assessed properties within the boundaries of the Business Improvement District. Funds are collected by the CBRM with the property taxes then disbursed to us monthly. The boundaries cover the waterfront to George St. and Dorchester St. to Townsend St. Our mandate is to promote commercial activity, carry out beautification initiatives, and we manage a parking lot.