The demolition of two buildings on George Street on Saturday is paving the way for future development, although some businesses are not impressed with the short-term consequences.
Commonwealth Realty Corporation owns the entire 400-block of George Street, except for the Prince George Hotel (which was sold to the city). Over the last year, three buildings have been demolished and will be turned into a parking lot, temporarily, while other options are explored.
The building left standing currently belongs to Sassafras Savouries, a cafe coupled with a catering business.
"The whole process has caused problems for my business," said April Ottesen, Sassafras' owner.
"Short term, there have been some very deleterious effects to the area from what I've seen. Whatever glimpse of downtown we had before has been lost. I'm hoping the long-term plans the city has made will manifest.
"It could be a really good thing for the downtown core."
But Ottesen will be moving in the meantime, taking her business to the Gold Cap Travelodge, on the corner of 7th Avenue and Brunswick Street.
Across the street from the development, the Ramada Hotel said there's been nothing but excitement since the buildings went down.
"It's brightening the outlook on the downtown, literally. There is so much more light coming into the street, and you can actually see the hotel when you're going down Fourth Avenue now," said Corrina Sheets, the operations manager of the Ramada.
Sheets said having the buildings gone is a huge step forward for the revitalization of downtown.
"Staff, guests, everybody can see the progress that's being made and that's a major accomplishment. We're all very excited," she said.
The next thing scheduled to be torn down is the Prince George Hotel. Prince George Mayor Dan Rogers said there is no date set for demolition, but the plan is to have it razed in the first half of 2011.
He said the city is exploring getting additional funding at the federal level, which requires the lot to be classified as a brown site. Following that, there will be a competitive bid process for both the demolition and remediation of the property, he said.
Down the street from the construction, Pastry Chef owners Petra and Karl Haus said they've seen improvement in regards to crime, yet face the new challenge of a bare downtown.
"When the Prince George Hotel was closed, it was like there was a huge magnet, swooping across downtown picking up all the street people, drunks and people causing problems," she said.
"But now it's like a ghost town down here. I might as well close at 4 p.m. when it gets dark, because nobody is here. And what has the city done? There is nothing drawing people here now, and I feel all the promises we were given have been broken."
Rogers said the city is making progress in the revitalization of the downtown core, and the community and businesses have to remember that it's a long-distance run, not a sprint.
"The city has accomplished 20 out of 22 recommendations set out for 2011, and I think we've come a long way in our goal to revitalize the downtown core," said Rogers.
"It's not going to change overnight, just as the problems didn't happen overnight. It's going to take dedication and perseverance."
