Dear Editor
Over the last number of weeks, a number of letters to the editor, editorials, and even a lengthy article by a staff writer on crime and the deplorable state of North Battleford's economically and culturally depressed downtown have appeared in the News-Optimist. No other city in the history of our province has had the morbid experience of witnessing its main street and downtown core slide into oblivion over a few decades as has North Battleford - at least not to this degree and on this scale. It seems likely to me the residents of our fair city have finally had enough, and are finally speaking out. And so they should.
For most of the city's history, North Battleford's downtown claimed its rightful place as the commercial , cultural and social centre of our city. But today we have four pawn shops downtown within a radius of one city block and an array of businesses and agencies that cater to society's less fortunate. The city has allowed, and even solicited their occupancy over the years and decades thereby creating a culture of poverty in the downtown core. This is not to say these businesses and agencies are not legitimate. The Food Bank, for example, is a wonderful organization which is run by highly competent and caring people and is critically necessary for many people, but it should not be located in the middle of downtown. We can't have it both ways. Poverty and prosperity cannot coexist. Today, people throw cigarette butts and spit on the sidewalks, loiter, panhandle and commit crimes right on main street. Indeed, North Battleford was recently named as having the highest crime rate in Canada three years in a row (for cities our size). As a result, businesses and professional groups will not locate downtown. Who can blame them? In addition, an extraordinarily large number of historic buildings, some of which are a century old, sit empty and derelict on 100th, 101st and 102nd streets, contributing to a depressed economic, cultural and social void. Between the Bank of Nova Scotia and the Bank of Montreal, every building is vacant, for example. And, there is much more to consider.
The time is right for someone to write a lengthy article on the downtown core. This piece should be written in five installments that deal with the following: 1) What was North Battleford's downtown like in 1941, for example, and in 1970? I recently interviewed a woman who was 19 in 1941 (she's 87 now). She remembered Main Street (101st Street) as a "magical place" bustling with activity with huge crowds of shoppers and window-gazers on a Saturday night. Every square foot of property was occupied and profitable. There was almost no crime. Everyone wanted to go downtown then. Thirty years later in 1970, downtown was still the place to be. Not much had changed. The change began in 1972 with the razing of the old post office (built in 1904). This unconscionable, symbolic act signaled the beginning of the demise of downtown North Battleford
2) What is North Battleford's downtown like today? Most of us have a general idea because we drive by it or through it every day. But we need a detailed account of just how bad it really is. Everything should be discussed including huge square block parking lots, homeless shelters, bingos and food banks, as well as crime, loitering, panhandling, and the destruction of our built heritage.
3) How did this sad state of affairs come about? How could the city government of 1972 demolish the iconic 1904 old post office, and a later city government bulldoze the magnificent old Royal Bank building? How could the citizens of North Battleford have allowed this to happen? What about the ill-conceived King Street Station? How much money was paid to business owners for their respective properties north of the present day liquor board? Whose idea was it to bring in the pawn shops, and why (because the City was desperate for tax revenue from a floundering downtown?). Who was responsible for what happened downtown between 1972 and the present? Yes, there is much to discuss.
4) What has been done to address the long-standing and depressed state of affairs in the downtown core? Is there a plan? Policy development? Resources? Resolve? Leadership? These are rhetorical questions, of course. The most pressing need with respect to our historic buildings and properties is the development of a policy - a frame of reference and set of guidelines the city can use to properly and fairly proceed with identification, restoration, security and, in some cases, demolition of our built heritage. Embedded in this document should be a requirement to consult a special citizen's committee on the city's historic structures and properties as well as the general public.
5) We don't think anyone has an idea on what downtown North Battleford could be. A vision - an idea - on our city's downtown potential, is required first. Then we need a plan. I've talked to the engineers and community planners who put together the much heralded city community plan. They have no plan for the downtown core. So that leaves the history community. We will submit a creative and pragmatic idea and a basic plan as a first step. We are aware of course, that a final plan would require the work of competent professional engineers and urban planners, and approval by the city. Someone has to define and frame the immense problems plaguing our city's downtown, and then take the initiative to suggest a solution. Over the years and decades, no one in either the public or private sector has been willing to that. We hope that both our citizens and those in city governance and administration will have a go at it and offer improvements and suggestions.
A few months ago, my friend and fellow historian, Julian Sadlowski, and I had an idea and thought we could come up with a plan. Unfortunately, Julian is no longer with us, but if he were, I am sure he would like our plan. A plan by itself is insufficient, of course, but it's essential, and it's where we must start. Once a sense of direction is established, we need strong and innovative leadership, resources and majority community support.
At this point, I have no idea where we could find a leader with the necessary competence and strength of character to head this fundamentally important initiative. An extraordinary, gifted leader (like the legendary Campbell Innes who saved Fort Battleford) would find the resources and motivate and pull people together to get this huge task accomplished.
The restoration of the city's downtown historic quarter, eliminating crime and vagrancy, and creating a beautiful and safe environment and a culture of wealth and prosperity, would certainly be the largest and most important project ever undertaken by our city. It should be done. It should have been done a long time ago.
You won't want to miss this upcoming well-researched, five-instalment article on the city's downtown. No stone will be left unturned.
Richard W. Hiebert, Ph.D.
President
Battlefords Heritage Society
