Should it stay or should it go? City to decide if Fort William mall is help, hindrance to downtown redevelopment.

• Author: Ross, Ian
• Position: Thunder Bay

The future of a struggling and costly downtown Thunder Bay shopping mall will be on the minds and agenda of south-end business owners and city councillors this fall.

Built in 1979, the Victoriaville Centre was the city's unfortunate stab at urban renewal.

Plopped down in the middle of Fort William's central business district, it effectively severed a main artery and segregated Victoria Avenue into east and west portions.

Having never turned a profit for the city, devoid of an anchor tenant, and run under an unusual public-private operating arrangement --with taxpayers footing the bill for the upkeep--the city is reviewing various options, including its total demolition.

"Personally, I think it needs to go," said Lori Paras, a businesswoman and downtown activist. "I think we need our street back."

To Paras, the mall walls off Fort William into two separate business districts. She wants to see the throughway restored.

She remembers Victoriaville being a once-bustling place, but shopping habits changed with the arrival of large retail outlets in the Inner City area.

"Big box stores won, so mom-and-pop entrepreneurs had to rethink how they do business," said Paras.

She sees an opportunity to stamp a new imprint on the downtown with boutique-type shops, street improvements and festivals.

"We have a retail revolution going on here. We can make our own identity."

Paras is among an influx of entrepreneurs who've refurbished papered-up storefronts in Fort William's core, attracted by cheap property values, modest rents, and the neighbourhood's architectural character.

"I've always had an enchantment with Fort William. There's something a little nostalgic and we've decided to take it up a notch."

As the owner of a small antique shop, she's expanding into a former furniture store on Victoria Avenue East, less than a block from the mall.

Inside, she's renovating the 6,000-square-foot space into a European-style bazaar where she'll rent vendor space for a booth or table by the month, week or day.

The Fort William core's negative public image is a lot to overcome, she admits.

Shelter House, the city's homeless shelter, is just blocks away and the area is home to many of Thunder Bay's impoverished and its swelling Indigenous population.

"To say that everyone down here is drinking and drugging is crazy. There are a lot of moms pushing carriages. It's a community down here and they need to be respected."

Others must feel that way too, she said, judging by...