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Downtown St. Catharines is the central business district of St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. It is defined by the city as the area between Highway 406 on the west and south, Geneva Street on the east until it reaches St. Paul Street then Welland Avenue north until it meets Niagara Street.

Downtown St. Catharines
Neighbourhood
Downtown core, seen from Westchester Crescent
CountryCanada
ProvinceOntario
CitySt. Catharines

It an historical area of the city, as well as a significant cultural and entertainment destination, playing host to several bars and restaurants along St. Paul and James Streets, and the popular Niagara Grape & Wine Festival and Grand Parade in September. Various retail and commercial businesses, are found throughout the core, as well as government, financial and law offices. Since 2015, the neighbourhood has been home to the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, a campus of Brock University.


History


Intersecting trails used by Indigenous peoples,[clarification needed] at the confluence of Dick's Creek and 12 Mile Creek, laid the foundation of the downtown streets as they appear today.[1] Among them remains the largest and most historically significant street of the city, St. Paul Street. Construction of the first and second Welland Canals behind St. Paul Street quickly elevated the area into a prosperous hub for commerce and industry in the Niagara Region.


Revitalization


Like many downtowns in North America, the area experienced significant decline as shopping malls and power centres in the suburbs took over as major shopping destinations. Citizens of St. Catharines often complained of the lack of parking and inconveniences associated with one-way streets in the core. Today, the downtown is experiencing a modest turnaround thanks to public and private investment in the areas surrounding St. Paul and James Streets, as well as the former Lower Level Parking Lot.

On April 3, 2006, St. Catharines City Council voted in favour of returning two-way traffic to the downtown core, at an anticipated cost of $2 million. At the time, two-way traffic was promoted as one way of making the downtown streets safer, slowing down traffic and boosting business. By October 2009, most of the conversion work was completed. The addition of two-way traffic, especially to St. Paul Street, played a role in the Ontario Wine Council's decision to modify the Niagara Wine Route to pass through downtown St. Catharines in 2014.[2]

On June 16, 2006, the Province of Ontario released a Growth Plan under the Places to Grow Act, 2005, of which was born the Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe in 2017.[3] In the plan, Downtown St. Catharines is identified as one of 22 Urban Growth Centres for the province, given a growth target of 150 residents and jobs combined per hectare by 2031.

Since the Places to Grow Act, municipal and regional governments have invested heavily in infrastructure projects in the downtown core. A detailed inspection and analysis of the Burgoyne Bridge in 2010 revealed the need for a new span over Twelve Mile Creek. Construction on the new signature bridge, which features a steel truss-arch, began in 2014 with an estimated budget of $91.35 million, and was completed in 2016.[4] In the nearby Lower Level Parking Lot, construction began in 2013 on the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, a new campus of Brock University. Completed in 2015, the school operates alongside the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, a municipal cultural project, built on adjacent lands. The facilities house 500 full-time students in new buildings along St. Paul Street and the historic Canada Hair Cloth building.[5]

The grand opening of the city's new spectator arena, the Meridian Centre, took place on October 21, 2014. The 5,300-seat arena was built by the municipality to house the Niagara IceDogs ice hockey team of the Ontario Hockey League.[6] The venue also plays host to numerous events throughout the year such as sporting events, concerts, trade shows and conferences.


Historical sites


Downtown St. Catharines has many heritage sites, such as:


Heritage corridor


The St. Catharines Economic and Tourism Services department, with support from the Ontario Ministry of Tourism, launched the Heritage Corridor Project in 2004. The goal of the project is to draw tourists off the Niagara Wine Route into St. Catharines' downtown and other historically significant areas.


Residential streets


A few streets within the St. Catharines Downtown Core where the houses are primarily used for residential purposes.

James Street
James Street



See also



References


  1. "Yesterday and Today: The heart of St. Catharines". St. Catharines Standard. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
  2. "Wine Route Has Arrived in Downtown St. Catharines". St. Catharines Economic Development and Tourism Services. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 18 June 2014.
  3. "Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe 2017" (PDF). Province of Ontario Ministry of Municipal Affairs. Retrieved 1 November 2017.
  4. "Task Force Created to Look Into Burgoyne Bridge Replacement". Canoe Sun Media. Retrieved 7 May 2015.
  5. "With construction finished, Brock's new downtown arts school gets ready to educate". The Brock News. Retrieved 1 June 2015.
  6. "Meridian Centre ready to entertain". The City of St. Catharines. Retrieved 11 October 2014.
  7. Register of the Government of Canada Heritage Buildings.[permanent dead link]
  8. Dennis Gannon. "YESTERDAY AND TODAY: The Russell Hotel". St. Catharines Standard. Retrieved December 6, 2017.





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