In our home, we record many of the home renovation shows popular on HGTV. It is like a catalogue that tempts you with current ideas and colours for furniture and walls. Living in our home for over 40 years, we have from time to time, changed many things. Our kitchen cabinets were transformed along with the addition of granite counter tops. Our family room has seen the disappearance of cedar strip walls to simply bare walls.
The wood fireplace was replaced with a gas fireplace that we really enjoy. Most recently we are watching Home Town where the Napiers have taken over Fort Morgan, Colorado to transform the community and return its pride. It worked for their home community Laurel, Mississippi.
But the frustrations and problems facing both Laurel, Mississippi and Fort Morgan, Colorado totally reflect the issues facing Fort Frances. Laurel was a lumber manufacturing community that lost its sawmills. Fort Morgan is in the middle of a huge agriculture area and an interstate passed by the community. Both had seen massive business loss in their downtowns and the Napiers look at ways to revitalize the downtowns and make the downtowns alive. In Morgan, businesses shifted to the interstate with the building of big box stores. They siphoned off many of the downtown businesses and saw more just close their doors.
The vitality of the downtown was being eroded.
They began by identifying key businesses to renovate and key community leaders to improve their homes. The community provided plenty of sweat equity to repaint store fronts, homes, landscaping, and murals. They sought out new business owners who were already taking a risk of starting a business in the downtown.
Fort Frances has spent much capital on the downtown. Beginning with the painting of murals on two buildings, new sidewalks and Rainy Lake Square, store front vacancies remain. When there are attractions at Rainy Lake Square, it is a busy place. New businesses have opened, and some old businesses have shuttered leaving closed store fronts.
What types of businesses might attract more people into the downtown? Would a diner and coffee shop open from early morning to late afternoon attract workers at the end of a shift as the Rainy Lake once did? Would an ice cream store be an attraction to bring families to the downtown in the early evening and throughout the day?
It helps that Home Town is portraying both communities as a wonderful place to raise a family and they are using one hour programs over several weeks to convince viewers that both Laurel and Fort Morgan are wonderful family communities. Fort Frances doesn’t have that resource, but the voices of eight thousand residents telling friends and acquaintances that Fort Frances and the District is a wonderful place to raise a family would be a big step. Let’s promote the District as a beautiful place to raise a family. We have a lot to be proud of.
