BARRHEAD-This winter the Town of Barrhead's Main Street will have a distinctly different feel to it, if not look.
On Oct. 15, councillors unanimously approved a $15,500 budget to revamp Main Street's Christmas decoration decor.
The approval came as a direct result of a joint presentation from the Barrhead and District Chamber of Commerce (represented by past-president Dave Sawatzky) and Barrhead Main Street Merchants' Association (represented by Christine Driessen) who asked the council to fund their street decoration overhaul project.
It should be noted that as part of the motion, made by Coun. Leslie Penny, the municipality will take over the project and is the first part of a plan that will eventually include the entire downtown area.
"As business owners on Main Street, we have strived to make a connection with our customers and make their shopping experience welcoming and inviting," Driessen said.
She added that for the last year the chamber and merchants' association have been working with the mayor and chief administrative officer Edward LeBlanc to come up with a plan to refresh the town's Christmas decorations for Main Street specifically, but also the rest of the downtown area.
However, as they were going through the exercise, Driessen noted downtown businesses noted a shift in people's shopping patterns, in large part due to the coronavirus.
"Now it is truly hometown shopping. More people are coming to shop in our stores," she said. "What we are trying to do is create more of a Hallmark look to add the spirit of Christmas for shoppers this Christmas season."
Sawatzky agreed but noted the refresh project is meant to entice shoppers to Main Street all year round.
"Our vision is to ensure that Main Street remains relevant," he said. "It has always been the most visible part of our community and we have to work hard to keep that asset."
Sawatzky added that many Main Street businesses have reinvested in themselves in the last number of years and now it is time to upgrade the street.
He said when coming up with a plan to refresh the town's Christmas decorations they wanted to incorporate the municipality's new colours (two shades of blue along with red and gold) it had chosen as part of its rebranding exercise it unveiled in January.
Sawatzky explained that under their Main Street Christmas decorating plan the blue heron would be replaced, temporarily, with a new drop column decorated in a Christmas theme and that a silhouette shooting star would be permanently installed on each lamppost.
"At the end of the street, when you are going north to the south, we want something that really draws people's attention," he said. In the end, it was decided on a tree of light.
The column drops and shooting stars are priced at $179 and $695 each and the tree of lights is estimated at roughly $3,500. The column drops and the shooting stars would be purchased through Canadian commercial vendors while the light tree would be constructed locally.
"We feel it would be a great enhancement for the street. We love the idea of the stars for summer," he said. "This will give us a great ambience and the update to the look of Main Street that we have all been looking for and help draw people downtown."
Sawatzky said the chamber has informally polled their members and they all believe, people will be staying home this holiday season.
"Our biggest competition will be Amazon, not the city," he said.
Sawatzky said the additions will also help them keep the shoppers who have come from outside the community to shop. In recent months, he has noticed an influx of shoppers from the city in Barrhead shops.
Sawatzky believes the main reason, isn't because they are scared to do business in the city.
"It is because of the lakers," he said. "Our community just did a great job this summer, giving them that Barrhead experience and now we are seeing them on the weekends and they are spending their money."
Coun. Dausen Kluin supported the concept but was wary of voting in favour of it until they had more information, most notably the life expectancy and warranty of the shooting costs.
"Because they will be installed year-round in our weather conditions where it can get to -40 degrees ... will we have to spend this type of money every year because that is a lot of money," he said, adding they should wait until they could get an answer.
Coun. Ty Assaf interjected that if they were going to have the decorations up in time for Christmas, they needed to act soon.
Sawatzky agreed, saying that because the shooting stars were a special item order item, the best-case scenario is that they would not be installed until the new year but said the drop columns could be put up in time for the holiday season.
Coun. Don Smith had two concerns, the first being the cost, as the current holiday decorations were only purchased a few years ago, the other that he did not want to single out Main Street, which could be perceived as getting special attention, at the expense of other areas that also deserve attention.
On Sept. 23, councillors approved accepted a proposal from the public works department to use the $544,302 the municipality has been allotted as part of the province's Municipal Stimulus Program (MSP) to rehabilitate Main Street. It should also be noted as part of the application a one-block section of 45th Street will also be gravelled.
Sawatzky noted Main Street would be part of a multi-year facelift plan for downtown.
Mayor Dave McKenzie said they have been looking at a way to bring consistency into the look of the downtown core but they could not find a way, partially due to the inconsistency of the trees on Main Street.
"What has been presented to us, really creates that consistency and not just for Christmas," he said. "Our Main Street is a hidden gem and we have underplayed it for so long. This is our chance to give it some real punch."
