Another Goes Under

You have to wonder when the councillors of Kingston will figure out that their stewardship of the downtown is AWFUL!

Another store, Sir Gawain, a women's and men's wear shop, is closing its doors (announced this morning) It is located at the corner of Ontario and Princess Streets. Well, it's located there right now, but come July, it too will be gone.

And to think that these same councillors have decided NOT to buy the S & R building, that would have had quite a bit of pedestrian traffic, perhaps people going in to pay their parking tickets or property taxes........

Someone recently commented to me, "I can't wait to get rid of these people." There are a lot of citizens climbing onto that bandwagon.

One has to feel for the fellow who is trying to make an impression on the local market with his excellent (yes, I have had them, bought them) take-home frozen dinners, across from the Lone Star that has been closed for almost a month. On Ontario Street. The Lone Star must be crying too, since a lot of its trade is on the patio, summer-time.

What do the other owners/renters of property in the downtown think of all the closings? Do they wonder how long they can hang on?

There are over 40 vacant storefronts on Princess Street between Division and Ontario Streets. Why is this? One of those who knows, from experience, says that the rental rates in the buildings are astronomical. This person decided (without much contemplation) to take the business off Princess Street, to an adjacent street, and even then the rental rates are almost choking. Why? City taxes? Greedy landlords? Both?

Council doesn't address this in public at all. One has to wonder if they are oblivious to this, or if they don't care, or if they think it's just a passing aberration, or is there some other reason?

Kingston's downtown is in crisis. The citizens know this, why don't city councillors?

Too bad the Special meeting of Council tonight isn't being telecast on Cogeco 13. It sure would be nice to see if even one councillor tried to put this critical situation on the agenda.