A business group wants the City to put tighter restrictions on the operation of nightclub patio decks. One proposed deck is causing concern for a neighbouring property owner and now the Downtown Development Commission says it may be time to close all decks downtown by 11:00 pm.

The commission says property owners are now developing the upper floors of commercial properties for residential tenants. Commission chair Bill Mahoney says it's important to recognize the financial investments being made by property owners in the downtown.

Meanwhile, the city's appeals board is urging council to reconsider an earlier decision to allow construction of a deck at another downtown nightclub.

VOCM News, Monday, April 19, 2004 Brian Madore

Councillor Dennis O’Keefe, Chairman of the St. John’s Cruise Committee regrets to advise that the arrival of the Minerva II, scheduled for Saturday, April 17th from 7:00 am until 12:30 pm has been cancelled due to unfavourable marine conditions.

The Sports Shop will rise from the ashes of the fire that destroyed it Monday night said owner Frank Dyke. The downtown shop was consumed by fire that also damaged a number of other businesses. The cause of the fire is under investigation.

Dyke said he is looking for a temporary location for the shop while the current building is repaired and expects it to be up and running within the next two weeks.

"You can mope and lament about things but there comes a time when you've got to move on," Dyke told The Telegram Wednesday evening.

The Telgram, Thursday, April 15, 2004

Wenches and Rogues, one of the leading fashion stores in St. John's, has gone out of business after 10 years of selling and promoting Canadian-designed clothing.

The store also had two outlets in Toronto, where the city named owner Jane Mifflin the fashion retailer of the year. Mifflin could not be reached for comment and she hasn't said anything publicaly about why the stores in St. John's and Toronto have closed.

Robin Kay, president of the Fashion Designers Council of Canada and Mifflin's friend says people aren't buying enough Canadian-designed clothing. "We are not as a country supportive of our own designers," Kay says."If we don't ask for Canadian and buy Canadian and wear Canadian then Canadian designers do not get sold."

Designer Crystal Seimens sold her clothes to Wenches and Rogues. While she won't comment directly on the closure, she says last year's SARS outbreak in Toronto had a big impact on tourism and retail spending, depriving high-end clothing stores of millions of dollars. Siemens says consumers and designers will feel the loss of the business. "I think Wenches and Rogues will be missed because it has always been a store that has been an advocate for change and really tried to bring Canadian design to the forefront."

Seimens echoes Kay by saying there are not enough retailers to sell Canadian fashions and not enough consumers to buy them.

CBC Radio, Wednesdays, April 14, 2004

The Second World War over with, Fort Pepperrell was downsizing and Frank Dyke Sr.'s job at the former American military base became redundant - so he answered a Telegram classified ad for a soon-to-open store called The Sports Shop.

Proprietor Arthur Murray gave Dyke the job. They tried in vain to get the store open in time for the May 24th weekend in 1947, but sporting goods stock, like many other things, were still in short supply two years after the war.

The store opened in June that year and the business flourished. Years later, Dyke took over. And in recent years, he passed it on to his son, Frank, Jr. But Monday night, the landmark Water Street store went up in flames as Frank Jr. watched firefighters try in vain to save the business from the latest downtown fire. Frank Sr., now 81, got a phone call from bookkeeper Renee Jackson, who has worked at the store for two decades.

"First, I thought what the heck happened here. That's all you could think," he said Tuesday. "She described for me what was happening - there were flames through the roof. Well, nobody was hurt, and thank God for that. Nobody was trapped in the building. It was just another building....Too bad the building burned down. Too bad the business will close for a little while. Hopefully the insurance will help re-establish. That's up to Frank now - he will have to make the decision, not me."

After a little thought, Dyke said if he were still at the helm he would go ahead again. "That's all - pick up the pieces and carry on," he said. "I'm very,very happy nobody was hurt. That would have been a very, very bad experience, to have somebody injured."

Frank Dyke Jr. does plan to reopen. The building was insured, but the cause of the fire - which started on the top floor - has not been determined. Monday's fire also damaged Velma's restaurant, Maverick Sports and Collectibles and a vacant deli.

The Sports Shop site was a tinsmith shop when Murray purchased it. Frank Sr. was 23 and starting a family when his job at Fort Pepperrell maintaining drycleaning and laundry machinery disappeared. Murray took him on and they set to the task of cleaning up the dirty premises, where hardware was sold downstairs and the keetles, stovepipes and the like had been manufactured upstairs.

The May 24 weekend was looming - at that time, city dwellers with fishing rods in hand would fan out all over the Avalon, hitting destinations like Brigus Junction, Mahers and Nine Mile Post aboard the Newfie Bullet.

Murray, an avid salmon fisherman and an outdoorsman, finally opened the store in early June, after he finally secured the stock. A few months later, Dyke recalls they rang in a $1000 in sales a day, no small achievement in a time when steel fishing rods sold for $1.75. The shop initially dealt mainly in rods, reels and fishing tackle, but eventually branched out into baseball, tennis, soccer, hockey and other sports.

In its heyday, the store supplied schools with sporting goods and was a prime destination for hockey gear. Later, the Dykes moved into trophy engraving. The Water Street of those early years contained family run department stores like Bowring's, Ayres, as well as Harris and Hiscock, Neyle Soper Hardware and the Royal Stores, all of which dealt in various goods. "Water Street was really wonderful...we were friendly competitors," Dyke recalls. "This was our distinction. We were the first 100 per cent sporting goods store....we didn't have to move the stove pipes to get to the rods."

Dyke was a jack of all trades, from sweeping the floor to helping run the business. Beyond regular business hours, the store was open Friday nights and Saturdays, but closed Sundays and for half day Wednesdays. To celebrate May 24th, they, like other businesses, ran a fishing contest, awarding prizes for the heaviest native trout, heaviest quarter dozen and heaviest half dozen.

When either store ran out of stock, it was no trouble to borrow from a neighbour. "If somebody wanted a reel, you loaned it to them," Dyke said. "If we ran out of stock, we'd get it from Harris and Hiscock...(They would) would phone me and say we need a dozen trout flies for a customer. It was a good atmosphere."

The store started out at 256 Water Street. Businessman Selby Short renovated next door with the intentions of opening a hearing aid store. One day however, Short approached Dyke. "He said to me, 'Frank, that store would be ideal for you people.' I spoke to Mr. Murray about it. He said, 'If you think it's a good investment, we will buy it," Dyke recalled.

Around 1960, Murray and his wife, Belle, purchased 258 Water Street and merged the two buildings for use as one store. In its prime, The Sports Shop had nearly a dozen employees. Staff helped generations of wobbly footed youngsters into their first pair of skates. Over the years, Murray offered Dyke shares in the business as bonuses. Eventually, Murray decided to retire and sold everything to Dyke.

The two malls - the Avalon and the Village - opened in the 1970's. One by one most of the old Water Street stores began to disappear. And five or six years ago the big box stores opened up. But Dyke said the combination of traffic congestion and parking fines was the worst business foe ever. "Water Street became very congested. Parking was absolutely pitiful," he said. "We never considered Wal-Mart a threat because we gave personal service. When a customer came in for a fishing rod, a reel, line or baseball glove, we knew our merchandise."

About a decade ago, Dyke said he decided it was time for his son to take over. "It was my life and I loved it very much...I would do it 10 times over," he said.

While the store consumed much of Dyke's time, his wife Mary raised their five children - four girls and a boy. "I have a marvelous wife who looked after everything in the home. I worried about the work," Dyke recalled. "I was blessed in many ways. I had a job that I was very, very happy in. I had very nice people to work with and work for... our customers were the finest people in the world."

The Dykes aren't the first proprietors to be hit by tragedy on that site. The buildings were reconstructed after the 1892 fire, which razed them. According to city archives, from 1913-46 No. 258 housed Roper and Thompson Jewellery. In 1960, the building was home to Roger and Son Jewellery. At 256 Water Street William Drayton pianos and organs occupied the premises from 1913-15. In 1928, it was B. Levitz dry goods and in 1936 the Gift Shop. Some time after that the tinsmith and hardware store moved in.

The Telegram. Wednesday, April 14, 2004 Barb Sweet.

A major fire on Water Street Monday evening destroyed one business and left a couple of others with major damage. The Sports Shop, in operation in the same location for 57 years, went up in flames as firefighters did all they could to save that building and adjoining structures. The fire gutted the top floors of the Sports Shop and spread to Velma's Place restaurant and Maverick Sports Collectibles.

There was smoke damage to at least three adjoining premises. Crews poured on the water as they spent the next 4 hours making sure the fire was prevented from spreading up and down the block. At one point Deputy Fire Chief Jack Hickey ordered his teams to evacuate the building when a small explosion blew out windows and it looked like the roof might collapse.

Sports Shop owner Frank Dyke took the blaze hard. He told VOCM News his feelings were not easy to put into words, labelling it a total and complete devastation. The business was open as usual Monday, but Dyke cannot figure out how the fire started in a third floor storage area. The loss of the building is difficult for Dyke, but it's the loss of the memories and history of the last 57 years that are the hardest. On the top floor was a wall on which each employee of The Sports Shop since its opening in 1947 had engraved their names, including Frank Dyke Sr., who founded the store along with businessman Arthur Murray.

The owner of the Model Shop was at the scene last night. Mike Howard's business was gutted in a blaze in January of last year. He says he spoke with Frank Dyke, understanding what the owner of the Sports Shop is going through. He says Frank Dyke gave him support the night of his fire and Monday night Howard was repaying the kindness.

"I had a lot of people come and help me out. They came out of the woodwork - a lot of people you didn't expect to - and everybody will jump in and help," Howard says. "And that's just the Newfoundland and the downtown mentality."

VOCM News and CBC Radio, Tuesday, April 13. Denis Mulloy.

Councilor Dennis O’Keefe, chairman of the city’s cruise ship committee, said Monday the largest cruise ship to visit the port of St. John’s is scheduled to arrive September 9.

The Grand Princess can accommodate 2,600 passengers and 1,500 crew. “St. John’s is becoming a popular destination for cruise lines,” he said.

O’Keefe, meanwhile, also informed councilors the cruise ship committee is recommending the Cruise ship Association of Newfoundland and Labrador withdraw from its funding partnership with the Atlantic Canada Cruise Association.

O’Keefe said it’s believed the $25,000.00 annual partnership fee would be better spent on this province’s marketing strategies in the cruise ship industry.

The Telegram, Tuesday, April 6th, 2004. Council Briefs

City should consider noise levels for downtown residents before approving: apartment owner.

Nightclub decks are spoiling the quiet enjoyment of living in downtown St. John’s and are threatening residential investment in the commercial strip, a businessman says

Phonse Miller, the owner of Gallery Shoes on Water Shoes, which has apartments on the upper floors, said the city has to recognize that a balance is needed in order for downtown residents and retail establishments to co-exist. Miller said he understands some bars have operated downtown for years, but when the city approves outside decks at those establishments, “people are going to be out there until the bar is closed.” “There’ll be music going, there’ll be people shouting and whatever else,” he said.

“Some people do go to sleep at a reasonable hour, and they have to go to work the next day. Yes, I understand that there’s going to be different noises downtown as opposed to living in Cowan Heights or wherever, but it should be taken into consideration when somebody is requesting something new for that area.”

Miller said the city should consider how commercial applications, particularly nightclub decks, will affect residents living in the commercial area. And, he said, just because a former commercial operation had an outside deck doesn’t mean the city should approve a new application for a deck at the same property.

Miller, a former chairman of the Downtown Development Commission (DDC), said he’s hardly anti-business – it’s just he believes the city should strive to encourage harmony between businesses and residents living in a commercial zone. “Where’s the value for me, renovating an apartment, if I know that somewhere down the line that big five-storey building (next door) could be turned into a liquor dome?” he said. “I wouldn’t do it. It would be a waste of my money.”

Miller pointed out that one of the aims of the Downtown Revitalization and Heritage Preservation Study, a report about two years ago, was to promote the development of second-storey residential units above ground-level retail stores.

Bill Mahoney, chairman of the DDC and a property owner/manager agrees there must be a balance between downtown residents and nightclubs and other businesses. Mahoney’s own company Regal Realty owns and manages O’Dwyer manor on the south side of Water Street, west of the former Bank of Nova Scotia building, which features 13 apartments above ground-level shops. He said the residents who live there deserve to be protected from the noise of nightclub decks.

“It’s incumbent upon council to recognize and respect the rights of the downtown residents when they issue permits concerning lounges and decks,” he said. “That balance needs to be maintained ad part of the mandate of the DDC is to strike that balance between commercial enterprise in the downtown and residents. Council needs to be ever-mindful that it’s becoming more and more of an issue as more people are moving toward the downtown to live…”

Mahoney said nightclubs have added to the character and culture of downtown, but people who live in the area should know what they can expect.

Councilor Shannie Duff, who chairs the city’s planning and housing committee, said Miller and Mahoney make good points. “But it’s hard to find that balance when you’ve got an area that’s really a mixed residential/commercial zone,” she said pointing out that the city decided some time ago to encourage residential living above ground level retail outlets. “So I don’t know what the answer is, but I would be quite happy, as (chair) of the planning and housing committee, as well as a person very interested in the future of the downtown, to try and take it up and even try to get some of the interested parties together to see if there’s something we can do within our regulations to capture that balance,” Duff said.

Council is expected to deal with an application from The Ship Pub, 265 Duckworth Street (Solomon’s Lane) for a discretionary-use outdoor lounge area at tonight’s council meeting.

The Telegram. Craig Jackson

Good Friday is the next Shop Closing Holiday and paid public holiday. Friday, April 9th is the holiday date of observance.

The Shop Closing Act requires that all shops, other than those defined as exempt shops, be closed on shop closing holidays.

For more information contact the Provincial Department of Labour or visit their website at www.gov.nf.ca.

Holiday Date of Observance:

New Years Day* Thursday, January 1st, 2004
Good Friday* Friday, April 9th, 2004
Easter Sunday Sunday, April 11th, 2004
Victoria Day Monday, May 24th, 2004
Memorial Day/Canada Day* Thursday, July 1st, 2004
Labour Day* Monday, September 6th, 2004
Thanksgiving Day Monday, October 11th, 2004
Remembrance Day* Thursday, November 11th, 2004
Christmas Day* Saturday, December 25th, 2004
Boxing Day Sunday, December 26th, 2004

* - Public Paid Holidays

In addition to the foregoing holidays, the Shops Closing Act sets for observance as holidays the following:

(a) in the City of St. John's, the day determined as Regatta Day