[SteelTown]

Merchants think mayor's idea bad for business
Fred Eisenberger envisions Stoney Creek pedestrian mall

Abigail Cukier, Stoney Creek
(Nov 2, 2007)

Although Mayor Fred Eisenberger said he was merely musing over turning downtown Stoney Creek into a pedestrian mall, local merchants definitely had something to say about it.

Mr. Eisenberger envisions a pedestrian mall in downtown Hamilton, on King Street East from Catharine Street to James Street, which includes Gore Park. City staff is studying the plan, which Mr. Eisenberger argues would encourage businesses to open and entice more people to stroll the downtown. He would like to see similar plans in Dundas and on King Street in Stoney Creek.

"You might as well put up a 'closed for business' sign," said Dave Cage, executive director of the Stoney Creek Chamber of Commerce.

"We would definitely have to look at it, because the layout of downtown Stoney Creek is not the same as James Street or Gore Park. Cars would be diverted up small, residential streets, narrow streets with four-way stop signs and pass by (RL) Hyslop school.

"I don't share that same vision, but I am willing to discuss it."

Stoney Creek BIA chair Ed Strecker, who owns Britannia Cleaners at 17 King St. E., called the idea a "disaster."

"Do you want to talk about getting rid of your downtown, that would be it," he said. "If you have a lawyer or a doctor, that's one thing, but for a dry cleaner or a convenience store, you're going to go to the one that's most convenient. That's not doing us any favour at all."

Mr. Eisenberger stresses this is just an idea and realizes it needs to be studied. But he believes something has to be done about traffic on King Street. He marvelled at the volume of cars when crossing the street on a visit to the area.

"That's not warm and friendly. You want to make it more pedestrian friendly," he said. "The issues might be different than downtown Hamilton. So I would leave it to the local councillors to bring up and discuss."

Joanne Wynhofen, owner of the Picture Palace at 19 King St. E., says she sees merit in the mayor's idea.

"The cars go so fast on King Street that it's an excellent idea. But do we have enough pedestrians, enough interesting businesses to bring them down here," she said.

"We would need more interesting shops and you're not going to get that without the people. So it goes around."

Connie Behie, executive director of the Stoney Creek BIA agrees.

"The merchants don't lend themselves to that. They are more service providers. People don't want to trot for miles lugging their dry cleaning or massive picture frames," she said. "The mechanic, I think he wouldn't be too happy about people not being able to bring their cars.

"The complexion of the street would have to change dramatically and the access streets would also have to change."

Mary Terziev-Clifford of the Village Restaurant, doesn't believe the plan would be in the restaurant's 'best interests.'

"A lot of traffic drives by and the people say, 'Oh, let's go there for dinner or maybe next time,'" she said. "We can't live on the locals. The locals are wonderful, but they know who you are. We need fresh new faces. We already advertise quite a bit and we would need to advertise more, which costs a lot."

But Mr. Eisenberger says flow through traffic makes an area uninviting.

"You want to make a place inviting for people to visit. A line-up of cars is not very interesting," he says. "We have to look at whether or not we can create it or how it would work. We have Queenston Road and Lake Avenue and we could create other ways, but it's something worth looking at.We would get the BIA's input and staff would do a transportation study.

"These areas need to be more inviting. You need to create a destination point and the stores would benefit greatly. You want a warm, inviting destination, rather than a fly through from East Hamilton to Grimsby."

Ward councillor Brad Clark said he doesn't know how it would be done.

"I would vehemently oppose it. We have a plan for downtown Stoney Creek and it does not include a promenade," he said. "We have the old Stoney Creek plan, which will be ready for the anniversary of the Battle of Stoney Creek."

Stoney Creek council passed the Olde Town Urban Design Plan in 1997, with a completion date of 2013 to coincide with the bicentennial of the Battle of Stoney Creek.

Improvements have included the town square and fountain with the Augustus Jones sculpture, traditional street signs, renovations to Battlefield Monument and reconstruction of Battlefield bridge. Other items still on the list include a seniors centre and further upgrades to Battlefield Park.