What is a ‘good’ business?

To the editor:
To the persons who see gloom and doom if Wal-Mart is “allowed” to build here, I say, when and what is a good business to “allow” to build here?
One that doesn’t sell or use “off shore” products, doesn’t pay minimum wage or very close to it, isn’t non-union, isn’t in competition with other local businesses, in some form or other, doesn’t expect work for time paid, and doesn’t expect some concessions from the municipality it is building or residing in.
I would bet that every current business in our area (including ours) would have a very hard time to say, “We have all those attributes, or at least a quarter of them.”
Would you prefer to stay the way we are: declining population, low commercial tax base, low job opportunities, non-existing viable telecommunication systems, etc., etc.? This town is at least 10-15 years behind in job development, and not all jobs can be top paying or have the ideal attributes.
Yes, entrepreneurship is good, but unless you can get 10-15 individual small businesses to start up here, in the next two years, employ a minimum of 30-40 people collectively, and be able to give visitors a reason to stop, shop, and stay (those three elements must be an integral part), we are no farther than we are now.
If you think that a large retailer would, or could, use the area that the old high school sits on, you might be missing something. Wal-Mart or some other large company would take up the existing lot for the building alone. Large retailers, for the most part, do not restore; they build newer and better.
Now what have you got for parking to accommodate the large influx of vehicles that would transport those that you are hoping to attract? We can’t accommodate parking for the people who live in this town, let alone tourists pulling boats, trailers, driving motorhomes, etc., and do you think the people living on Second Street in that area would appreciate something that expansive—being part of their view from their front window.
I don’t think so. Ask one of our councillors, who lives in that area, if it would be fun.
As for community transportation to a business in the west end of town, what do the people in the east end or west end do now to get to businesses on Scott Street who don’t have their own car? Maybe a large outlet would make it viable to have our bus system running again if there was some incentive to go shopping for more variety and less expensive items for those on a fixed or low income.
As for a possible problem with traffic, access to sewer and water, etc., don’t you think that would be something that would be happening regardless of who sets up business in that area.
Also, who would want another industrial business operating in that location? We already have some eyesores in the west end that do not send a good first impression of this town, coming from the west or from the airport.
The new waterfront and a statue are nice (like to have) items, but they will not make more of a reason for the tourists to stop, shop, or stay.
It is probably very hard to get companies to locate in an environment such as exists in Fort Frances. It is time for this town to put the several economic studies and out-of-town visits, which cost thousands of dollars, to good use. Maybe that is already happening, I don’t know. It isn’t apparent on the surface. I would hope that it is.
One question, and one suggestion.
What is going to happen to the empty school when the “superschool” is built at J.W. Walker? Will they end up in the same predicament as the old high school?
If there is a great cost to demolishing the old high school, why not put the structure and remaining contents, for a minimal cost of administering and other incidental costs, out to construction/deconstruction/salvage companies, as long as they comply to a timeline for demolition, all local and other required codes.
It would be a low-cost to send out notices to different areas. It’s not as if someone is rushing into town to take it off our hands.
Remember the old saying, “One man’s cast out is another man’s treasure.”
Thank you,
G. Sisco
Fort Frances, Ont.