To the editor:
I cannot believe how many people in this city are opposed to building the multiplex at the Water Street bus terminal site.
So many people complain about parking when there really is a lot of parking around. At the corner of Red River Road and Court Street there is a parkade. Also, across the street there is a brand new waterfront that has a plethora of parking.
Come July every year in Thunder Bay we have the Bluesfest which hosts up to 5,000 people. There's no complaint of parking then.
Giving people a reason to be downtown will give new investors a reason to invest. Building elsewhere is useless and pointless as it really is just an event centre in the middle of nowhere. It doesn't generate revenue anywhere but itself.
Imagine Thunder Bay on a game night:
1. Take my boys to the marina for some skating
2. Walk to a downtown restaurant for a bite
3. Walk and visit small shops around until its time to;
4. Walk to the arena to catch the game
5. Walk back to my car and head home on one of the many four-lane roads around.
For others that are opposed to walking around downtown there is such a thing as public transit which could be utilized to shuttle people from a centralized location on a day that has an event.
This would require a lot fewer vehicles that need to find parking. I lived in Brandon, Man. and they have a huge parking lot for the Westman Place. On game night it would be closer to park in the parkade at Red River Road and Court Street and walk to Water Street than it would to walk across the parking lot in Brandon at the Westman Place.
At least I would be able to stop at shop here. There it is just a parking lot. The multiplex going downtown would be an amazing step in revitalizing Thunder Bay. we should want people to be impressed when they visit Thunder Bay and not worry if they are going to get robbed if they are downtown.
Eric Mermans,
Thunder Bay
