By John Chenier
The first six months of Kalin McCluskey’s term as Executive Director of the ByWard Market BIA have certainly been eventful. The year started with concern that anew variant of COVID was just around the corner. Before those concerns could subside, the Market and the City were put under siege from the “Freedom” Convoy. Fortunately, it has been relatively uneventful since March and McCluskey is pleased to see the number of people returning to the Market increasing slowly but steadily.
McCluskey says her members are still trying to assess what the move of the Canada Day celebrations from Parliament Hill to the LeBreton area will mean to the merchants in the Market. The BIA and some of the merchants are exploring the possibility of having the city offer a free bus service connecting the event site to the ByWard Market. McCluskey is committed to keeping the ByWard precinct as the heart of City activities. It has been noted that this is the second major event to shift locations away from the Market. In February, WInterlude events were moved to Lansdowne.
Meanwhile the churn in businesses in the aftermath of COVID continues. There are still numerous vacant with new ones coming in to take their place.
And in the subject of moving, the BIA is moving from their current space on Dalhousie Street to space above the Lookout on York Street The move is expected to be completed by the end of July. And check out the new ByWard BIA logo to go with their new address.
Finally, the BIA has a new person responsible for communications. communications Mushama Pierre came on board on the week of June 6th