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The Invermere
ALLEY A CHO ng t h
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t 9 r e b Decem 2015
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This week’s Find The Fan prize goes to...
bia Val
Vo l . 59 Issue
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Melissa Weber and Jayme Renaud earned giggles and guffaws from the audience that came out for the Sunday afternoon performance of the Lake Windermere Players’ Christmas pageant, Bob’s Your Elf, on December 6th at the Windermere Community Hall. PHOTO BY NICOLE TRIGG
Full Parkside Place could fuel more development STEVE HUBRECHT steve@invermerevalleyecho.com With talk swirling in recent days about ever-expanding commercial operations at the Crossroads and the consequent doom for downtown Invermere, district mayor Gerry Taft has been pointing to the full occupancy of the Parkside Place development as a sign that downtown Invermere is as healthy as ever. Parkside Place, stretching along the east side of main street (7th Avenue) north of Valley Foods, is currently completely full of commercial tenants for the first time in its nearly 10-year history. “It’s absolutely a success story. We were able to generate commercial activity in the downtown core; it was a good-size project; it helps ties Pothole Park to the rest of the downtown; and, in my opinion, it has certainly en-
hanced our downtown,” said Taft. mayor) thinking about the potential The project began about a decade of that place and about what kind of ago, when the Invermere council at the vision we wanted for downtown Intime was approached by a commercial vermere,” said Taft. “In the end, we real estate headhunter wanting to buy came to the conclusion that a big box the land on which Parkside Place now development didn’t really fit for our sits (which was then owned by the dis- downtown, but that the land had great trict) to build a commercial develop- potential for mixed use, with both resment. Preciseidential units The main idea is that, ly what kind and small of commercial businesses.” with that land, there is a development great opportunity for affordable The district was never disthen put out housing and we’d probably look closed, but it a request for at a partnership with the Family became eviproposals for dent to most Dynamix Association for that. the property people inGERRY TAFT to build just MAYOR, DISTRICT OF INVERMERE such a mixedvolved that it would be a branch operation of a large use development, with the winning probusiness chain — perhaps a Block- posal coming from Quiniscoe Homes. buster video rental store or a McDon“One of the conditions was that it ald’s restaurant. must be built within five years of the “It got council of the day (of which purchase date as we didn’t want someTaft was a member, although not yet body to just sit on it,” said Taft. “So the
first phase was built right away and then, after some selling and re-selling, they proceeded to the second and third building. We wanted to project a feeling of confidence in downtown and in the end that’s what happened.” Throughout the project, skeptics kept pointing to the storefronts that were still vacant, “but now they are all filled up,” said Taft. The success of Parkside Place has catalyzed the district to think about what can be done with the land just north of Parkside Place, which it still owns. Although any development there is still years away, it is on council’s radar. “It’s definitely something we want to look at in the future. We have had some really preliminary discussion around that,” said Taft. “The main idea is that, with that land, there is a great opportunity for affordable housing and See A2
Valley Sessions Xmas Concert at Pynelogs What does ART mean to you?
Saturday December 19th & 20th 7 pm - tickets at the door
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