The City of St. John’s tourism committee is impressed with a Downtown Development Commission (DDC) proposal to establish an annual Downtown Buskers Festival. This year’s event will be held during the Aug 7-8 weekend.

Busking – known as street performing by entertainers for tips – attracts international and local artists from various fields, including fire spitters, jugglers, cartoonists, acrobats, comedians, actors, magicians and circus clowns.

The DDC projects $18,400 will be required to for this year’s festival, which will attract some big name international buskers and local talent. Beni Malone and his Wonderbolt Circus said the buskers festival is a “fabulous” idea.

“Busking transforms the City of Halifax and its reputation,” he said, adding St. John’s should see similar benefits. “It’s going to be fantastic,” he said, noting it will also be of major benefit to the local arts community. People will get to see some world class artists during the weekend festival, Malone said, noting local businesses, such as retailers and restaurants, all stand to profit from it. “It’s going to be very positive,” he said.

DDC chairman Bill Mahoney said it will create additional traffic downtown. “Our local merchants would certainly benefit by that,” he said adding it’s also a positive feature for people who work and live downtown. “It will be good, family-oriented entertainment.”

Busker festivals are also major tourist attractions, he said, adding this year’s festival has attracted “experienced and very talented” artists. For instance, one participant, Berlin native Mirko Trierenberg, is an established fire spitter, juggler and acrobat who has entertained audiences throughout Germany and many other parts of the world. “I think it will be just a tremendous asset for the downtown by providing world-class entertainment,” Mahoney said.

The timing of the Downtown Buskers Festival couldn’t be better, occurring at a time when there are plenty of people in the city taking advantage of various events. It follows the Aug 4 Royal St. John’s Regatta and the July 29 to Aug 3 George Street Festival. The buskers will also perform on the same weekend of the Bannerman Park Folk Festival.

Mahoney said the busker festival wouldn’t be possible without the support of several players such as the corporate sponsors – The Telegram, Steele Communications, George Street Entertainment District and the Delta Hotel and Conference Center.

“We are pleased to play a role in the community and participate in the Downtown Buskers Festival,” said Jeanette Payne, marketing/production manager of the Telegram. “This event will showcase exceptional talents throughout the various entertainment fields and will prove to be beneficial to the downtown, particularly for our citizens, businesses and tourists. “Trancontinental, parent company of the Telegram, is committed to the communities it serves.”

The City of St, John’s also plans to play a big role in the event. “We are very pleased to that the Downtown Development Commission is looking at trying to enliven the downtown during a key tourism time of the year,” said Councilor Sandy Hickman, chairman of the city’s tourism committee. “To have another major activity is really something we’ve been grappling with for a long time.”

The tourism committee is recommending city council approve a $7,000 grant to the DDC and other in-kind contributions for this year’s event. Hickman said the committee will also recommend the city guarantee participation in the festival for the next three years.

The committee is also recommending council approve several in-kind contributions to the DDC for the event, including access to the Prince Edward stage on George Street, electricity and cleanup.

Mahoney, meanwhile, said the DDC would like to see the planned buskers festivals become a tradition in downtown St. John’s and he doesn’t doubt for a second that can be accomplished.

The Telegram, July 24, 2004 by Craig Jackson.

Bill Mahoney is taking an unusual approach to leasing space in the old Bank of Nova Scotia building in downtown St. John’s. The building owner placed an advertisement in the Telegram last weekend asking for expressions of interest from would-be tenants.

It’s the kind of thing governments and oil companies do when tendering work. “It is somewhat of a novel approach,” said Mahoney, owner and president of Regal Realty. “I’m surprised others haven’t done this in the past.” Neither has he.

Mahoney bought the building at a city tax auction last March for just $225,000. “There was really intense interest in the property when I first acquired it. “There was all sorts of people coming to me with proposals – everything from a movie theatre to dinner theatre, bars and restaurants ….a bus station.” That was four months ago.

“The interest has sort of waned because the building just wasn’t available and I couldn’t even consider anything until this work was done,” Mahoney said. It also signals the building is ready for occupancy, more or less. Built in the mid-1960’s, the building was vacant for almost 15 years before Mahoney bought it.

“There was no heat on,” he said. “It required pretty significant environmental remediation.” That work is done and the next step is renovating for tenants. For the past four months, workmen have removed asbestos from insulation around hating pipes, in floor tiles and plaster. Some light fixtures contained polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). “There are very strict guidelines and requirements as outlined by the provincial government. Everything has to be done in a very controlled and well-documented manner. So, every little piece of asbestos and every little piece of plaster that contained asbestos had to be removed….and it all had to be disposed of.”

It was an expensive process, although Mahoney couldn’t provide a price tag. “All the bills aren’t in. Frankly, I’m not quite sure how much it’s going to cost,” he said. “The whole building is going to have to be rebuilt – right from a new roof right on through to plumbing, electrical and air-handling systems. All of that will have to be replaced.”

About all that will remain will be the outside walls and the 20-foot ceilings on the main floor. Mahoney expects to begin renovations by late August. Asking for expressions of interest seemed the best way to find out who’s still interested in the space and what they are looking for before renovations begin. They have until August 6 to indicate interest in leasing all or part of the old bank building.

Mahoney also owns the Murray Premises and the O’Dwyer building, which essentially surround the old bank building. He plans to move his Regal Realty offices into the third floor of the former bank building and build a very short pedway to the Murray Premises. One thing he hasn’t figured out is a new name for the building, but says he’s open to suggestion. “Anything reasonable.”

The Telegram. July 28, 2004. Moira Baird

What started out as an idea to promote local music and stimulate activity on George Street has turned into a 20-year-old tradition that has surpassed everyone’s expectations. The George Street Festival was created based upon the need to do some pre-Regatta activities, so Molson Canada (then Carling O’Keefe), Browning Harvey and local radio station OZ FM got together and pitched the idea to club owners in the area.

20 years later and the event is known across the Province and the country. This year’s festival begins July 29 with Buddy Wasisname and the Other Fellas and wraps up on August 4 with a free concert featuring Friends of Jack. The highlight of the festival is Newfoundland’s own Great Big Sea, who performs Saturday, July 31. Tickets for this event are limited and have to be purchased before the show at Mile One Stadium. They cost $25 apiece.

Tom Loder, Marketing Director with the George Street Entertainment District said Saturday will definitely be the flagship day for the festival this year. “It’s the 20th anniversary and we wanted to have entertainment that reflects the magnitude of this festival and what it is all about. So, we combined the day with some strong local talent and with some new, up-and-coming bands from across Canada – and, of course, top it off with Great Big Sea,” he said.

For more information on the George Street Festival call 754 4771 or visit www.georgestreetfestival.com. You can also get the complete listing of acts in the Events section of this web site under the George Street Festival listing.

Some of the former glory of old St. John’s has been restored. A painted advertisement for Golden Pheasant Tea that once graced the west side of the East End Club building at the bottom of St. John’s Lane has been repainted as a new mural.

“We’re very pleased with the end product of the actual mural,” said Kay Anonsen, arts and cultural development coordinator with the city’s economic development, tourism and culture division. “It’s beautiful, it’s big and it’s impressive.”

Anonsen said it’s particularly pleasing to observe the positive reaction the Water Street-area mural is getting from citizens and visitors. “Everyone who walks by loves it and we’re getting great feedback.”

The mural project cost about $10,000, with R.A. Templeton Ltd. providing the paint and supplies, the Downtown Development Commission contributing $1000, and the city covered the remaining costs. The East End Club helped out by allowing the city and artists Derek Holmes and April Norman to repaint the advertisement. Golden Pheasant was a British tea once common in St. John’s. At the time of its popularity, many residents had a Golden Pheasant Tea Box, which they filled with the British product.

The west side of the East End Club building displayed various advertisements over the years. The tea advertisement was on the wall from about 1930 to 1950 and had faded away over time. Holmes, who has painted about a dozen murals in the St. John’s area, said it took he and Norman three weeks to prepare the building, sketch out the mural and paint it. “We’re really happy with it,” he said.

Despite their best efforts, however, they were unable to track down a copy of the original advertisement. “We had to resort to just talking to older people, get their recollections of the advertisement, try to piece together what we thought might have been there, and redesigned it around that,” Holmes said.

Norman said the mural helps people appreciate art within the community. Both artists agree such murals should have some historical and cultural significance. Holmes hopes the business community will come onside to support the establishment of such artworks. “It’s pretty hard to do otherwise,” he said.

Anonsen, meanwhile, said the city plans on sponsoring more murals in the future. “We have a lot of retaining walls”, she said. The city is eyeing the large retaining wall at the bottom of Shea Heights on South Side Road. It plans to get design work on selected murals over the winter and seek sponsorships and hopefully painting can begin in 2005. “It’s an excellent investment in the city and the local arts community,” Anonsen said. “Murals engage the public with art and instill a civic pride in our cultural heritage.”

TheTelegram, July 22, 2004. Craig Jackson.

The Rotterdam arrived in port this morning with nearly 1320 passengers and over 640 crew members aboard. The Rotterdam will be in port until 5:00 pm today before continuing on its northern itinerary cruising the coast of Labrador. The Akedemik Ioffe will arrive back in port Wednesday with 48 passengers aboard. The Ioffe will be retruning to St. John's on her return trip circumnavigation of the Province.

The phone calls came in around 8:30 pm from a friend who just driven down Water Street - The Sports Shop was on fire and Andrew Corbett might want to go down and take a look.

Corbett is owner of Maverick Sports and Collectables, located just a couple of doors away from the venerable downtown sporting-goods landmark.

He raced down, then stood on the other side of the street watching for hours as the fire inched towards his building. Firefighters forced their way in to the adjacent businesses - Velma's restaurant to the west and a vacant building under renovation to the east. Finally the blaze spread to the eaves of 250 Water Street.

"I still don't remember actually seeing flames coming out of my windows but at some point it did come across into my roof," Corbett recalls. "The next thing I knew, (the firefighters) were over there with the bolt-cutters at my door."

Corbett, his father and a friend managed to get some things out - the hard drive of the computer, and boxes of vintage cards from the 1950's and 1960's - before being hustled away by firefighters.

At 12:40 am on April 13 - more than four hours after it began - the fire department declared the blaze under control. Then Corbett's work began. As soon as the building was declared safe, he began to assess the damage.

He estimated he lost between half and three-quarters of his inventory. Smoke and water weren't a good mix with the hats and clothing that are one of the store's specialties. The building had to be gutted right back to the studs, essentially rebuilt.

Within weeks, Corbett plans for the rebuilding process to be complete. Maverick should be open for business again by the first week of August, at the latest. Maverick moved to Water Street from its former location on Duckworth Street last summer.

Corbett has had a brick-and-mortar locations since 1999 but has been selling and trading cards for more than a decade. In recent years, Maverick expanded its wares to include sports memorbilia, autographs, souvenirs, comics, coins, stamps, supplies and St. John's Maple Leafs products.

Since the fire, he's leaned on his on-line presence to keep in contact with customers. "Since we've been down, anybody who wants stuff has been either getting us through the e-mail or getting us through the website," he says.

Corbett says he is constantly being asked when the store will reopen. "There are people who miss us, and that's always a good thing," he notes.

And he's not the only one who plans to resume business at the same location. Frank Dyke, Jr., owner of The Sports Shop, has temporarily relocated, but plans to rebuild and reopen. The buildings were insured.

The Telegram. Tuesday, July 13, 2004 by Rob Antle

Absent from Downtown for almost two years, Irene’s reopened in its old location at 324 Water Street on Monday. Completely refurbished since being consumed by fire a little over two years ago on June 28, 2002, the locally owned store sells wedding invitations, cake decorating supplies, porcelain dolls and Newfoundland souvenirs.

Owners George and Irene Murphy say that it was a struggle to get up and running again, but it was worth it. Irene commented, “We love downtown. I can’t imagine being anywhere else”. George laughingly replies, “Yes, I was just about born and raised on Water Street”.

Their love of downtown St. John’s is evident in the many carvings of downtown buildings displayed about the store. George skillfully carves his creations out of balsa wood in his spare time. A glance around the store will reveal exact replicas of the Court House, the Colonial Building, the Basilica, row house and many more.

More rooms were booked in St. John's in June than any other month on record, according to the Avalon Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The bureau said a record 38,733 rooms were sold last month, surpassing the previous record of 37,000 in June of 1997, the year of the Cabot 500 Celebrations.

The average occupancy rate for June was 90.91 per cent, with an average room rate of $131.29. The numbers are based on actual statistics submitted monthly to the bureau by the nine major hotels in the city - five of which are located downtown.

The increase was due in large to the 16 conventions that saw more than 3,000 delegrates visit the area.

For more information on the Avalon Convention and Visitors Bureau visit www.canadasfarest.com

Business in Brief - Telegram. Tuesday, July 6, 2004