Kensington ‘alive and well’
The new Poppy Plaza has been rescued from the flood and Kensington is ready for its annual Salsa Festival on Sunday.
“Kensington is alive and well and open for business,” says Annie MacInnis, executive director of the Kensington Business Revitalization Zone.
“We need Calgarians to come out and show their love,” she says.
“Come out and spend Saturday or Sunday in Kensington. Better yet, bring your friends and relatives from out of town and show this city off.”
The Salsa Fest attracts nearly 100,000 people each year to sample salsa and celebrate the winners of the salsa cooking contest. Salsa is free and proceeds from chip sales go to two charities this year. Norfolk House and the Hillhurst Sunnyside Community Association.
The BRZ’s 280 businesses were mostly undamaged by the monster flood of June 20, though its Sunnyside neighbours a few blocks to the east were hit hard.
The main impact was a loss of power for several days.
MacInnis recalls seeing Edmonton police officers, in uniform, directing traffic and emergency services at 4 a.m., the morning after the flood, having driven 300 kilometres to Calgary after getting off shift.
“I was just very touched by that,” she says. “Then there were these three guys in the rain. They had a wheelbarrow with a flat tire and they were moving earth and boards to shore up Poppy Plaza.”
All that Friday, she and other residents kept a nervous eye on the river.
“Two inches more and we would have been like Sunnyside,” says MacInnis.
As it turned out, Kensington’s eclectic business district was without power for seven days but otherwise spared. When Memorial Drive reopened, they were ready for business.
Sidewalks in front of landmarks such as The Muse and Sam’s restaurants, The Yardhouse pub, Higher Ground, Sunnyside and SwizzleSticks Salon Spa are ready to receive the world again.
Nick Lecce of Peppino’s Gourmet Foods says he was luckier than most restaurants.
He has a second Peppino’s location in Bridgeland, and spent the wee hours of the morning after the flood moving perishables from Kensington to Bridgeland.
“We did lose all of our gelato, but that was all,” he says.
He and his staff celebrated their good fortune by making 700 sandwiches and additional bag lunches that they gave to food stations in Sunnyside, Bowness and Mission to feed volunteers. Then they opened their doors to police and firefighters.
When his power came back on four days later, he was happy to welcome customers back.
Fev Hunter, owner of the Cherry Four children’s bedroom store, says she got a call from her boyfriend on the night of the flood and knew right away something serious was about to happen.
“He’s an EMT (emergency medical technician) and a very calm guy,” Hunter says. “He said: ‘Get everything off the floor and get out of there. Go and tell your neighbours to get out of there. This is going to be a big deal.’”
She was out of her store for seven days due to power failure, but “we didn’t have any mopping up or throwing out to do.”
Now, “people just want to take a break and get out.”
Street traffic is slowly getting back to normal.
“It takes a while to bounce back, so we hope to see more old and new customers coming through the doors,” says Hunter.
Visit kensington.com or facebook.com/kensingtoncalgary.