‘Vibrant and cool’ — Downtown Windsor lights up Ouellette

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Downtown Windsor is lighting up the night.

Permanent decorative lighting is being installed along the two northernmost blocks of Ouellette Avenue, illuminating the core’s main street to draw more riverfront visitors into the commercial district.

The Downtown Windsor Business Improvement Association is spending roughly $120,000 on the programmable display, expected to be fully up and running by Friday night.

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This is only the first phase of the project, BIA chair Chris MacLeod told the Star, with hopes to eventually set aglow more downtown streets.

“I am so excited,” he said. “It totally changes your perspective of that area. All of a sudden, it’s lit up, vibrant and cool.”

The app-controlled string of globe-shaped lights running along Ouellette from Riverside Drive to Chatham Street can change colour and show different patterns, MacLeod said. On Wednesday night, the lights erected so far were orange and blue for a Detroit Tigers game across the river.

“The ability to put on light shows downtown and program them is just phenomenal,” MacLeod said. “It’s not just a static display. It can be all kinds of different colours, all kinds of different patterns. The lighting can come on and off at different rates. It’s pretty cool.”

MacLeod would like city council to consider a funding arrangement with the BIA for more lights. The city would front the cost, and the BIA would pay the city back over several years — something the city has done for downtown streetscaping in the past, MacLeod said.

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“When things are lit up, I think it helps to change people’s perspective of those spaces. I think it’ll be really evident as we start to work our way down Ouellette, that those areas that get lit up will have a totally different feel than the rest.”

MacLeod envisions lights running south down Ouellette to Tuscarora Street, and along Pelissier Street, Maiden Lane, Chatham Street, and Pitt Street. Some of those streets could have lights running over the roadway instead of parallel to the sidewalk, he said.

“We’re trying to make downtown fun and exciting,” said Ward 3 Coun. Renaldo Agostino, who represents the neighbourhood.

A staff report to city council last fall highlighted several barriers to moving Windsor’s annual winter Bright Lights festival out of Jackson Park and into the core, including a lack of power and electrical infrastructure.

The lights going up downtown this week, however, will still do the trick to attract visitors, Agostino said.

“There’s no such thing as moving Bright Lights downtown. It’s impossible. The fixtures don’t exist. You can’t do it.

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“But I’ve always talked about doing the right lights downtown, and these are the right lights for downtown,” he said.

The new light display also coincides with efforts from city hall to revitalize Windsor’s struggling downtown through a multimillion-dollar plan dubbed Strengthen the Core. Among other things, the council-approved plan aims to beautify downtown and dedicates more police officers to the area in an effort to enhance feelings of safety.

“I’m proud our downtown isn’t taking a backseat and waiting for things to get better,” Agostino said. “We’re doing what we can do to make downtown better.

“Some of the problems that our downtown faces, that every downtown faces, we don’t have the tools to solve — but we’re not going to sit on our hands.”

‘Fall in Love With Downtown Windsor’ weekend events

The city and partners in the core have planned several events downtown this weekend, including a concert, day and night markets, and a milestone business anniversary celebration.

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• The Loose Goose RestoPub and Lounge (126 Ouellette Ave.) celebrates its 15th anniversary Friday at 6 p.m.
• The Downtown Windsor Farmers’ Market runs from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday in the 400-block of Pelissier Street.
• The Downtown Windsor Business Improvement Association is holding a night market in the 400-block block of Pelissier Street on Saturday from 5-9 p.m.
• The Windsor Symphony Orchestra is hosting Classical in the Concrete, a concert on the main level of the Pelissier Street parking garage at 6 p.m. Saturday. Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens and Ward 3 Coun. Agostino will join maestro Robert Franz for a special announcement about investment in arts and culture downtown. To RSVP for the free concert, visit windsorsymphony.com.

tcampbell@postmedia.com

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