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FOCUS^ ^ ^ w m N M s n . w . . i i 'L i ' j . · I '.v u c m fS TM X ? 7 /% * CU RRENT PO W E RM A C H IN ER Y IN C . 1661 Lakeshore Rd. W. Lwiard&nfcflFi ai.'tnKi' ^iinaifii'SQifeliMiis Official Media Sponsor Editor: Wilma Blokhuis Phone: 905-845-3824 (ext. 250) Fax: 905-337-5567 e-mail: blokhuis@haltonsearch.com N e w lif e a n d v is io n f o r K e r r S t r e e t By Wilma Blokhuis BEAVER FOCUS EDITOR our the world in a day. On Kerr Street, one can taste the cuisine of up to 40 dif ferent countries, everything from bak eries to fine dining, said Richard Messer, chairman of the Kenr Street Community Association. "You can eat Mexican food, Chinese. Japanese, Thai, Italian. Portuguese, South African. Caribbean, South American, East Indian, and seafood." he said. Or. find vintage clothing, that out-of-print collec tor's book you've been wanting to add to your home library, or a treasured antique. "We want people to know that Kerr Street is alive and open for business. You can come tour the world in a day. The shops, boutiques and restaurants await to serve you," said Messer. Kerr Street is not only multicultural - it is unique. Kerr Street is home to seniors' apartments and the Oakville Seniors Recreation Centre. Kerr Street Ministries helping those who have fallen down on their luck and are rebuilding themselves, one of Oakville's local arenas, the Oakville Community Centre for Peace. Ecology and Human Rights, three shops run by local charities (IODE, May Court and Salvation Army), the Oakville Parent Child Centre, and on its side streets, Oaklands Regional Centre, a residence and care facility for the mentally handi capped, and the Lions Foundation of Canada Dog Guide Training Centre. This alone is quite a mixture. Add to this milieu an assortment of restaurants serving pizza to everything vegan, drug, hardware and grocery stores, health and wellness practitioners, hair stylists, clothing shops, special services from car repair to computer repair and cheque cashing, plus halal and organic food outlets. It survives thanks to its strong sense of communi ty It is the walking beat of Police Constable Ellie Van Vliet a Kerr Street booster who played a major role in `cleaning up the street' and turning it into a people place. "I've got 12 years of Kerr Street history in pictures on the walls of my office," said Van Vliet. She's taken many of these pictures herself. "I love the changes that have been made to Kerr Street" she said of the 120 Grade 9 Appleby College students who came in teams of 40 over the past few weeks to clean parks, build planters, create flags and beautify the street with perennials. "I've seen these young people out even on the weekends. It's just incredible what they've done." Van Vliet noted the 55 flags, designed and screen printed by the students themselves, "incorporate the atmosphere and community of Kerr Street. For exam ple, there is an animal paw prints flag near the Lions Foundation of Canada Dog Guide Training Centre, she pointed out. "These kids have done a fantastic job. "I was so impressed by the planters they were building that I purchased a wooden planter and placed it in front of my office - and paid for it myself. "These students have made Kerr Street a more pleasant place to be. "Now we have to take ownership of this street and if we see anybody causing malicious damage, for example, it is the responsibility of all of us to speak up. We owe at least that to the students from Appleby College who did this work." Van Vliet said a "stigma that permeated through the community and stuck (for years) is gone. "Kerr Street is unique. It doesn't matter what you ask for, this community comes through, be it dona tions for the annual Tree Lighting Ceremony or the Santa Claus Parade. When people are asked to con tribute, they come through - you're never turned T 1 L d r: Peter C. McCusker · Oakville Beaver Constable Ellie Van Vliet, who has patrolled Kerr Street on foot for 12 years, chats with Appleby College ASCENT youths, from left, Tina Byers, Dasha Ianovskaia, Alex Kurgan and Min-Joo Cha. Van Vliet, a Kerr Street booster, was so impressed by the work done by Appleby's 120 Grade 9 students in the ASCENT program, that she purchased a wooden planter for her office. down. This is a very caring community. "There are a lot of positive things about this area and it up to the people of Oakville to come see what Kenr Street is all about." Today, benches and planters line the wide side walks, providing places where people can gather and chat Van Vliet can often be seen chatting with people as she walks her beat. If you look carefully at the roadwork as you drive past Florence Drive, you'll notice a circular brickwork pattern on Kerr Street that takes the eye to Heritage Square, where for years the annual Kerr Street Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony has been held. At the west side of this square is a sculpture of three amorphous shapes rep resenting people holding hands in a circle with doves, symbolic of peace, rising from their arms. A plaque beside this piece of public art posted on June 4, 1994. states the sculpture is the cre ation of Domenico R ic h a rd D'Allesandro. The artist describes the work as a ``celebration of the nature of the Canadian people." It reflects the street's multicultural heritage and the ability of people from different cultures to live togeth er in harmony. This is one of the reasons why Kerr Street has the potential to become a vibrant commercial area on par with Lakeshore Road, said Messer. Although down town Oakville has its fine one-of-a-kind boutique stores, coffee shops and upscale dining establish ments, Kerr Street has its multicultural flavour mixed with an interesting array of antique shops, used book stores, recycled clothing shops and ethnic food, he said. Messer talked about a vision for Kerr Street a reju venation that has already begun. Recently, the Kerr Street Community Association hosted A Taste of Ken Street Picnic at Westwood Park to celebrate a major step forward in the area's regen eration. "We were thanking Appleby College for send ing 120 Grade 9 students who cleaned the area and built planters." he said. The students "invaded" Kerr Street like an army dressed in orange T-shirts working two days a week on its beautification. "Perennials were plant ed," said Messer. The stu dents built 15 oval shaped stone planters, and trans formed 23 old concrete garbage can containers into planters. The flowers are being watered by volunteers organized by Kerr Street Ministries and the Kerr Street Community Association. A watering truck was donated. "The students came armed with shovels, picks, wheelbarrows, and lots of goodwill and spirit," said Messer. M esser Merchants also pur chased the 35-40 wooden planters built by the stu dents. For their efforts, the students received a favourable credit for their community service, and Kerr Street sports a new. cleaner look. The students also removed 13 lilac trees from existing planters and moved 10 of them to Trafalgar Park and three to Normandy Park. These planters were also cleaned up and rejuvenated. And, these two parks, plus Westwood Park, were cleaned up. Messer said the Kerr Street Community Association partnered with Appleby College's ASCENT program to complete the beautification of the business area. ASCENT stands for Arts, Service, Cumulative Evaluation and Northern Trip, explained Ellen Palmer, director of Appleby's Upper School for Grades 9 and 10. Students in the ASCENT program must complete a week of arts and service, a week of cumulative eval uation in six subjects, and participate in a week-long canoe trip in Temagami. she said, adding the Kerr Street project fell under arts and service. "ASCENT teaches the students to work in groups," said Palmer. "They learn that teamwork is a marketable asset upon graduation." Messer took over the chairmanship of this twoyear-old Kerr Street Community Association 18 months ago from Mike Jasnich of Fish Bones Oyster Bar and Grille. This group originally consisted of three Town councillors, a representative from the Oakville Chamber of Commerce, two members from Town staff, representatives from the Oakville Economic Development Alliance (OEDA), and a number of merchants. Originally chaired by Councillor Linda Hardacre, a survey was conducted in the summer of 2001 to determine if the merchants were interested in revitalizing Kerr Street. Of the 103 merchants and business people surveyed, 81 per cent were in favour. Today, this committee consists of Jasnich, lawyer Anna Rita DeFilippo of O'Connor MacLeod Hanna. Ron Shantz of Kerr Street Ministries, Ward 2 council lors Fred Oliver and Hardacre. Denise Ertsinian of Albert's Carpet One, Lorraine Tonkens of the Oakville Chamber of Commerce, Stephen Morris, research and policy analyst with OEDA, and Messer from Connect Us International. esser's dream is to form a BIA Business Improvement Area - sim ilar to downtown Oakville and Bronte. For that, he'll require sup port from the business owners and landlords. A BIA would mean an additional tax levy to pay for street improvements and special events to pro mote the Kerr Street community. "We raised all of the funds for this beautification, about $6,000. ourselves," said Messer, adding the Kerr Street project did not receive any money from the Town of Oakville. However. Kerr Street is on Town council's agenda. Oliver applauds the Kerr Street community's efforts in cleaning up and beautifying the street. "It's long overdue in my opinion," he commented. "The Appleby College students have done a tenrific job." Oliver added Town Council and staff are commit ted to improving Kerr Street "but we have a way to go before we have the support and cooperation from the landlords and tenants. Hopefully we'll have a BIA in this area in the near future." Council approved a motion titled A Vision fo r Kerr Street last week to a standing ovation. The motion includes Town staff support for forming a BLA, reviewing parking exemptions, rezoning and redevel opment of Shepherd Road, completing the Kerr Street streetscape program, underground servicing and repaving; complete a new streetscape, facade and building redesign study, a parking study, and look at the feasibility of allowing restaurant patios. The bylaw also authorizes $60,000 in funding for the Shepherd Road and streetscape, facade and build ing redesign studies. "The Kerr Street area has a character and flavour unique in Oakville which exhibits all of the communi ty values in combination with a diverse ethnic make-up which is reflected in many of the shops that oper ate along the length of the street" stated the Executive Summary supporting the motion. "This vision for Kerr Street must build on the char acter and strengths which already exist along the street. 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