Downtown Yellowknife needs overhaul: chamber

The Chamber of Commerce is scrambling to find ways to revitalize Yellowknife's downtown as homelessness, public drunkenness and other social problems drive retailers to the suburbs.

Chamber officials say 10 businesses have moved out of Yellowknife's core area in the past two months alone, with many migrating to the Frame Lake area.

"It's creating a sense of emptiness downtown and a loss of a sense of vibrancy," chamber president Warren McLeod told CBC News.

A number of retailers have moved out of Centre Square Mall, since customers want to avoid running into intoxicated or homeless people who wander in and around the building, the downtown shopping centre's former manager says.

Problems widely known: ex-manager

"The Bank [of Montreal] left because they felt unsafe. Reitmans is leaving," said Shawnette MacNeil, who was the mall's manager for two years until she was fired last month.

"The social problems at the mall everyone knows about the alcohol, the drugs, the homelessness," she added.

MacNeil and four other employees were fired after the company that owns the mall found they were allowing community groups to occupy some of the empty storefronts.

Some of the mall's current merchants told CBC News they liked having those groups in the vacant spaces because it brought in more traffic.

Action plan to be drafted

With so many businesses leaving downtown, chamber officials say they are bringing together a board of volunteers to draft an action plan to present to city council.

'The problem is much more deep-rooted, and we need to look at treatment as part of this solution.' Tim Doyle

Tim Doyle, the chamber's executive director, said the action plan will aim to lift the downtown out of its current situation.

Those who want to join the volunteer board just need a vested interest in revitalizing the city's downtown core, Doyle said.

"We realize that if we keep going down this path, we're going to have an empty hole downtown and that's it," Doyle said.

"What we've become is party central. The problem is much more deep-rooted, and we need to look at treatment as part of this solution."

There is currently no rehabilitation facility in Yellowknife to help people with alcohol or substance abuse.

On Friday, a coroner's inquest that reviewed the death of Raymond Eagle, a Yellowknife homeless man, recommended that a rehabilitation centre be established in the city.