“There ain't a lot that you can do in this town,
You drive down to the lake and then you turn back around”
Steve Earle- Someday
From Guitar Town (1986)
While it’s not quite as dire in Podunk as in the Steve Earle song, there is still apparently a serious lack of things to do for cruise ship visitors arriving on a Thursday evening.
The “there’s nothing to do’s” seem to be afflicting the Thursday evening cruise ship crowd and if Prince Rupert had hoped to keep the problem a secret, time ran out on Saturday afternoon. The Vancouver Sun picked up the story and printed on page three of the Saturday Sun, the largest circulation paper in the province, leaving thousdands of British Columbians and visitors with the impression that the sidewalks get rolled up and we hose down the streets on Thursday nights.
The situation is at such a state that city council is considering calling a town meeting to address the issue of hopeful tourists, wandering zombie like in quest of a little fun and excitement. Part of the problem it seems is a reticence of the local business community to keep their doors open past the 5:30 pm mark on Thursdays, the influx of cruise ship passengers it would seem are not buying enough of the local trinkets to make late openings a profitable or at least break even proposition.
With the store welcome mats rolled up, it would seem that the visitors are finding our charms a little wanting as sleepy hollow on a rainy evening isn’t one of the lasting memories they were hoping for.
While it’s interesting to see the city try to arrange yet another meeting of interested groups, we’re not quite sure what they expect of the local populace. Is it their wish that the locals head for downtown from 5 to 10:30 to act as “extras” in the summer stock production of our “Prince Rupert Visit”, where we’ll idly walk the streets and parks smiling and chatting as though part of giant movie set.
While we could try and recreate Seafest Saturday every Thursday evening in July and August, I suspect we would eventually exhaust the local supply of kabobs and have to call in for an airlift of meat.
It’s unfortunate that we have no piracy background in our history, there would be nothing better than to have a band of buccaneer’s swashbuckle their way through town looting and pillaging every Thursday (though some cynics might point out that they work on Third Avenue every second Monday night).
Maybe next year we can apply for a government grant and create a little historical fiction, to help along the cause of tourism.
If the local businesses aren’t finding the tourists beating down the doors, then it’s doubtful that they’ll stay open just as a public service. Judging by the state of the small business community in town and the ever changing landscape of opening and closing stores on Third Avenue, it would seem that it’s hard enough to make money without going out of your way to lose it. So trinket shopping may have to be limited to a few select stores, while Safeway captures the pop and chip market.
One suggestion was to have City hall stay open late on Thursday nights as a local attraction, which would be good, if for no other reason than to keep the local hooligans away from the fountain area for at least another five hours or so. Though we’re not sure that there is a screaming demand to tour the city hall bathrooms…
Perhaps we should move Council meetings to Thursday nights and have our civic leaders show democracy in action every week for the summer season. It would be a real bonus for those governmental policy wonk types, who we suspect are just dying to sit in on a variance hearing or find out just how that parking problem at Rushbrook floats is turning out.
It’s always been a problem to create things to do, especially in a town where the weather can work against you at the best of times. While the vessels set up tours from onboard the cruise ships, those that don’t want to pay those premiums or just wish to do a little self exploration seem to be having trouble finding things to do. Some apparently just hop onboard the local transit to take the frugal tour of the city.
There is some thought being give to creating a marketplace atmosphere in Mariner’s park on Thursday’s, a combination weekly fair and bazaar which will would be a lure we guess, though the city might have to relax its business taxes that seem to be a troublesome issue with some of the local vendors around the city.
Whatever they decide, they had best not plan on spending any more taxpayer’s dollars, as the backlash to that idea would be rather swift. The concerns of local taxpayers are valid, especially when you consider the state of the crumbling infra-structure around town and frequently increasing tax rates to the locals. Add to the local tax bill a tourist entertainment surtax and well, they may very well find a large group of people downtown on Thursday’s, but they won’t be welcoming tourists; they’ll be looking for politicians…
The topic has become a hot button issue on the local bulletin board, hackingthemainframe, which once you get past the normal bleating of the American bashers, has featured some lively debate on what should or should not be done by local officials.
For now, we’ll wait to see what the City cooks up for us and our visitors. In the competitive world of cruising out there, just saying if we build it; they will come, is apparently not enough. Sometimes you have to trot out some dogs and ponies to keep the visitors happy..
The Daily News published the story in Friday’s paper, quickly picked up by other papers across BC and perhaps beyond. Which means we’ll have to work fast to get the message out that Rupert is not the town that fun forgot!
Liven up our dead Thursday evenings says city
By Leanne Ritchie
The Daily News
Friday, July 13, 2007
Page One
Council is planning to organize a meeting in the hope of livening things up downtown for cruise ship passengers visiting on Thursday nights.
"On Thursday evenings (merchants) are not open and there is nothing for them to do," said Coun. Nelson Kinney.
The Norwegian Star visits Prince Rupert from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.
"I'm wondering if we can meet with some the store owners and talk them. We've got to do something, there's just nothing open for those people," he said.
Coun. Sheila Gordon-Payne suggested someone contact the Chamber of Commerce, Tourism Prince Rupert (which runs the ambassador program) and the Prince Rupert Port Authority to set up a meeting.
She noted the cruise ship industry brings in $8 million annually to the community and the community needs to work together to liven things up.
"I still am in favour of our city hall being open on Thursday evenings if any of our employees were interested in flex-time, or even just with a volunteer. We have a beautiful heritage building, public bathrooms that could be open when other parts of the downtown are closed and I think people would be charmed by our city hall."
She added other communities have recently opened docks and Prince Rupert needs to work hard or it could lose traffic to other communities hungry to attract vessel stops.
"I personally believe we risk losing it," she said.
Coun. Joy Thorkelson noted the city invested heavily to get the cruise ship dock. She said they need to work to ensure they continue to see a return on that investment.
"Of all places, it was a heavy topic of conversation at a recent Prince Rupert Labour Council meeting," said Thorkelson.
"Bus drivers were saying people were just getting on a city bus to go for a tour of the city just for something to do," she said.
However, some tourists had actually picked up old schedules and were waiting for buses to Port Edward that weren't coming.
"We need to find ways to make things look alive when they come in in the evening. It's better in the daytime. It would be better if they all arrived at 8 a.m. and packed it in at 4 p.m. but since they aren't doing that maybe we should hold a meeting."
A recent review on cruisecritic.com noted there was little to do in the evening:
"In Prince Rupert my oldest son and I left the ship and explored the town. Really nothing to do in Prince Rupert unless you are on an excursion. We did enjoy all of the bald eagles flying overhead near the ship. Made our way to Safeway to buy more soda and batteries for my troublesome camera."
Coun. Tony Briglio said he felt merchants would be open if there was money to be made and the city needs to ask the merchants what needs to be done to encourage them to stay open.
"Maybe bringing dance groups into town and blocking off a street and getting more people downtown, you'd find more people staying open," he said.
(picture at the top of this piece taken from the Prince Rupert archives site)
You drive down to the lake and then you turn back around”
Steve Earle- Someday
From Guitar Town (1986)
While it’s not quite as dire in Podunk as in the Steve Earle song, there is still apparently a serious lack of things to do for cruise ship visitors arriving on a Thursday evening.
The “there’s nothing to do’s” seem to be afflicting the Thursday evening cruise ship crowd and if Prince Rupert had hoped to keep the problem a secret, time ran out on Saturday afternoon. The Vancouver Sun picked up the story and printed on page three of the Saturday Sun, the largest circulation paper in the province, leaving thousdands of British Columbians and visitors with the impression that the sidewalks get rolled up and we hose down the streets on Thursday nights.
The situation is at such a state that city council is considering calling a town meeting to address the issue of hopeful tourists, wandering zombie like in quest of a little fun and excitement. Part of the problem it seems is a reticence of the local business community to keep their doors open past the 5:30 pm mark on Thursdays, the influx of cruise ship passengers it would seem are not buying enough of the local trinkets to make late openings a profitable or at least break even proposition.
With the store welcome mats rolled up, it would seem that the visitors are finding our charms a little wanting as sleepy hollow on a rainy evening isn’t one of the lasting memories they were hoping for.
While it’s interesting to see the city try to arrange yet another meeting of interested groups, we’re not quite sure what they expect of the local populace. Is it their wish that the locals head for downtown from 5 to 10:30 to act as “extras” in the summer stock production of our “Prince Rupert Visit”, where we’ll idly walk the streets and parks smiling and chatting as though part of giant movie set.
While we could try and recreate Seafest Saturday every Thursday evening in July and August, I suspect we would eventually exhaust the local supply of kabobs and have to call in for an airlift of meat.
It’s unfortunate that we have no piracy background in our history, there would be nothing better than to have a band of buccaneer’s swashbuckle their way through town looting and pillaging every Thursday (though some cynics might point out that they work on Third Avenue every second Monday night).
Maybe next year we can apply for a government grant and create a little historical fiction, to help along the cause of tourism.
If the local businesses aren’t finding the tourists beating down the doors, then it’s doubtful that they’ll stay open just as a public service. Judging by the state of the small business community in town and the ever changing landscape of opening and closing stores on Third Avenue, it would seem that it’s hard enough to make money without going out of your way to lose it. So trinket shopping may have to be limited to a few select stores, while Safeway captures the pop and chip market.
One suggestion was to have City hall stay open late on Thursday nights as a local attraction, which would be good, if for no other reason than to keep the local hooligans away from the fountain area for at least another five hours or so. Though we’re not sure that there is a screaming demand to tour the city hall bathrooms…
Perhaps we should move Council meetings to Thursday nights and have our civic leaders show democracy in action every week for the summer season. It would be a real bonus for those governmental policy wonk types, who we suspect are just dying to sit in on a variance hearing or find out just how that parking problem at Rushbrook floats is turning out.
It’s always been a problem to create things to do, especially in a town where the weather can work against you at the best of times. While the vessels set up tours from onboard the cruise ships, those that don’t want to pay those premiums or just wish to do a little self exploration seem to be having trouble finding things to do. Some apparently just hop onboard the local transit to take the frugal tour of the city.
There is some thought being give to creating a marketplace atmosphere in Mariner’s park on Thursday’s, a combination weekly fair and bazaar which will would be a lure we guess, though the city might have to relax its business taxes that seem to be a troublesome issue with some of the local vendors around the city.
Whatever they decide, they had best not plan on spending any more taxpayer’s dollars, as the backlash to that idea would be rather swift. The concerns of local taxpayers are valid, especially when you consider the state of the crumbling infra-structure around town and frequently increasing tax rates to the locals. Add to the local tax bill a tourist entertainment surtax and well, they may very well find a large group of people downtown on Thursday’s, but they won’t be welcoming tourists; they’ll be looking for politicians…
The topic has become a hot button issue on the local bulletin board, hackingthemainframe, which once you get past the normal bleating of the American bashers, has featured some lively debate on what should or should not be done by local officials.
For now, we’ll wait to see what the City cooks up for us and our visitors. In the competitive world of cruising out there, just saying if we build it; they will come, is apparently not enough. Sometimes you have to trot out some dogs and ponies to keep the visitors happy..
The Daily News published the story in Friday’s paper, quickly picked up by other papers across BC and perhaps beyond. Which means we’ll have to work fast to get the message out that Rupert is not the town that fun forgot!
Liven up our dead Thursday evenings says city
By Leanne Ritchie
The Daily News
Friday, July 13, 2007
Page One
Council is planning to organize a meeting in the hope of livening things up downtown for cruise ship passengers visiting on Thursday nights.
"On Thursday evenings (merchants) are not open and there is nothing for them to do," said Coun. Nelson Kinney.
The Norwegian Star visits Prince Rupert from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.
"I'm wondering if we can meet with some the store owners and talk them. We've got to do something, there's just nothing open for those people," he said.
Coun. Sheila Gordon-Payne suggested someone contact the Chamber of Commerce, Tourism Prince Rupert (which runs the ambassador program) and the Prince Rupert Port Authority to set up a meeting.
She noted the cruise ship industry brings in $8 million annually to the community and the community needs to work together to liven things up.
"I still am in favour of our city hall being open on Thursday evenings if any of our employees were interested in flex-time, or even just with a volunteer. We have a beautiful heritage building, public bathrooms that could be open when other parts of the downtown are closed and I think people would be charmed by our city hall."
She added other communities have recently opened docks and Prince Rupert needs to work hard or it could lose traffic to other communities hungry to attract vessel stops.
"I personally believe we risk losing it," she said.
Coun. Joy Thorkelson noted the city invested heavily to get the cruise ship dock. She said they need to work to ensure they continue to see a return on that investment.
"Of all places, it was a heavy topic of conversation at a recent Prince Rupert Labour Council meeting," said Thorkelson.
"Bus drivers were saying people were just getting on a city bus to go for a tour of the city just for something to do," she said.
However, some tourists had actually picked up old schedules and were waiting for buses to Port Edward that weren't coming.
"We need to find ways to make things look alive when they come in in the evening. It's better in the daytime. It would be better if they all arrived at 8 a.m. and packed it in at 4 p.m. but since they aren't doing that maybe we should hold a meeting."
A recent review on cruisecritic.com noted there was little to do in the evening:
"In Prince Rupert my oldest son and I left the ship and explored the town. Really nothing to do in Prince Rupert unless you are on an excursion. We did enjoy all of the bald eagles flying overhead near the ship. Made our way to Safeway to buy more soda and batteries for my troublesome camera."
Coun. Tony Briglio said he felt merchants would be open if there was money to be made and the city needs to ask the merchants what needs to be done to encourage them to stay open.
"Maybe bringing dance groups into town and blocking off a street and getting more people downtown, you'd find more people staying open," he said.
(picture at the top of this piece taken from the Prince Rupert archives site)
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