Dauphin city council is currently weighing its options when it comes to a pilot project on Second Avenue Northwest to create a craft district in the city’s core.
Dauphin Economic Development manager Martijn van Luijn began exploring the initiative at the request of council last year.
“They were looking to find a conceptual idea about how we can make Second Avenue Northwest as more of a destination, where people actually stop and hang out and play,” van Luijn said, adding with a craft brewery, a small butcher shop, a sign maker and a bakery already on the street, with a Creative Common set to open, the idea of a Craft District seemed to fit.
“So there’s a unique opportunity to create something and it’s the second busiest entrance to town. When you drive in . . . okay, this is who we are, this is our identity. Welcome to Dauphin.”
Urban Systems was contracted to help develop the plan, based on input from city administration, council and the public, through an open house held in April.
“Now it’s really up to council because (the plan) presented some low hanging fruit, easy solutions that don’t cost a lot of money,” van Luijn said.
Those options include things such as murals, planting more trees or creating temporary patios in the parking lanes.
“You give up one parking spot. You see them in other communities all the time,” van Luijn said.
“Or creating visual ways of slowing traffic. It doesn’t have to be an obstacle, it could be paint on the road, for example. There’s all kinds of solutions.”
The plan also includes longer-term strategies such as taking advantage of the extra width on the street to widen sidewalks.
“Which creates a much more attractive shopping street where you can plant more trees and have benches and that kind of stuff,” van Luijn said.
“Those are higher capital intensive, so that is presented as more of a long-term strategy.”
The options have been presented to council now as planning for 2025 is underway and van Luijn hopes some of the ideas are included in next year’s capital program.
The potential benefits of a successful pilot are tremendous, he added.
“I’m calling it a pilot project because if we can create an identity for this street, we could do it in other places, as well, and that just makes our downtown even more attractive,” van Luijn said.
“I follow a community economic development principle, which means let’s create a community in which we all choose to live first and everything else and will follow.”
