Community - Local merchants envision updated downtown

By Laurel Nadon
Staff reporter

When Bernie Brown, owner of Boot Hill Gallery and Gift Shop, purchased the former Okotoks New and Used store on Elizabeth Street, he envisioned big changes for the outdated building.
Brown said he wanted the building to have a country storefront to tie in with buildings east of their location such as Divine and the Old Country Store.
The entire storefront has since been stripped and new paint and flooring have been added inside. Brown also designed a mural for the east side of the building with a western theme.
“It was a fairly basic box before,” Brown said. “Hopefully, we’ll have done it (renovations) in such a way that they’ll stop and have a look at what our products inside are. Anything we can do to bring people downtown can benefit us all.”
He added that while he would like to see more businesses downtown follow suit, he doesn’t feel it’s fair to pressure them into making changes as renovations can be costly and time consuming.
“If I was waiting for the trades, it would be a long process because things are so busy in Okotoks,” Brown said, adding that most of the work has been done by himself, his brother and son.
Brown, who has run his gallery on the hill in the southwest corner of town for 13 years, began renovating the building the first week of August and plans to open in early to mid-September.
“We felt we needed to be more where the community was,” Brown said. “Hopefully, now we’ll be another piece to the puzzle downtown.”
Many communities are taking downtown revitalization into their own hands and joining the Alberta Main Street Program.
Since its inception in 1987 the program has provided funding and professional advice for the revitalization of 23 historic main street areas across the province.
The Town of Black Diamond is one of these communities and wrapped up its five-year Main Street Program in June 2005, with the boomtown look recreated for 38 buildings on Centre Avenue and Government Road. Business owners have said that the project led to increased revenues and had a strong economic impact on the community.
It’s this type of project which both the Town of Okotoks and Town of High River are considering.
Shane Olson, Okotoks economic development specialist, met with officials from the Main Street Program last week to learn more about the program. The program hasn’t accepted applications for the last five years, but will accept applications again this fall.
Olson noted that the town doesn’t have guidelines for storefronts, although Elma Street does have architectural controls to maintain its historic look. The town last looked at creating a downtown theme in 1992.
“You can’t really force a theme,” Olson said. “There has to be a grassroots buy in. It’s very exploratory at this point.”
He added that he’s not sure if the town meets the criteria of having 60 per cent historic buildings in its downtown as there are several 1970s strip malls dotting the downtown core. He noted that updating storefronts can have big benefits for businesses.
“It can help bring more people into downtown if there’s a certain prestige or image about it,” Olson said. “It can actually help the businesses increase their revenue.”
Olson said that some business owners might not see the value of renovating and that whether or not a storefront change is a positive one can also be subjective.
“Main Street Program brings people together in a coordinated approach to get people to look at their signage, colours and storefronts,” Olson said. “It needs to come from the business community. The last thing we want to do is impose something that the business community doesn’t want to do.”
The town’s economic development committee will discuss the program in September and it may then go before town council for further discussion.
The Town of High River also met with officials from the Main Street Program last week to see if the town meets the criteria for the project. If the town meets the criteria, it will look for endorsement from the economic development committee and then take the idea to local businesses for support.
High River’s economic development officer Scott Kovatch stressed that the Main Street Program is a voluntary program.
“When it’s voluntary, there’s a different mindset where people can come to the table at their leisure and feel more comfortable about not being forced into a decision,” Kovatch said.
He noted that the town doesn’t have specific bylaws, but they do encourage business revitalization.
“It sends a signal to customers that the business views the client as important and presents an image of the business as being prosperous and forward-thinking,” Kovatch said, adding that new business owners are being particular about their look. “The business owners have made a conscious effort to fit into downtown whether it’s a red brick facade or keeping it identified with a certain time period.”
One of these businesses in High River which specifically looked for a historic building to call home is Sass, a clothing store for women, which opened on June 1.
“It’s got that heritage feel with a brick facade and two-storey building,” said owner Kristin Birkness of the new building at 120 4th Avenue SW. “The consumer in me is drawn to it. As a business owner, that’s where I want to spend my time. I think other people are likeminded as well. It’s a nice energy and gives the shoppers a nice touch.”
She said she considered herself lucky to score the building as the other choices hadn’t been updated since the ’70s or ’80s. She would like to see more businesses in town with a similar look.
“I think it’s important for consistency and for a common theme and energy to build that vitality,” Birkness said. “It’s to build an atmosphere that defines the downtown core and to express the personality of the space.”
She said that while the cost to renovate may serve as a deterrent, she feels the problem is that many merchants feel that business is doing well already.
“They’re not forward-thinking and they’re businesses that have been doing business for 10, 15, 20 years,” Birkness said.
Birkness has been involved in initiating a business revitalization zone in town where a group of owners could get together and decide what they would like to see for their town.
“We’ve faced brutal opposition from businesses that don’t want to be forced into that,” Birkness said. “It’s a real struggle to get a business community all on board. It’s being opposed by a lot of people who don’t understand the potential of what it can do.”

Matts Zoumer from Turner Valley starts painting a mural on the side of Boot Hill Gallery and Gift Shop at its new location on Elizabeth Street.
photo by Laurel Nadon

Crime - Johnson family haunted by unsolved murders

Police say they are closer than ever to solving 10-year-old crime

By Pamela Roth
staff reporter

Sam Johnson hoped to watch his daughter, Cathryn, graduate from the Oilfields high school last spring.
She would have been 18, driving a car and likely getting ready to go to college. She may even have had a serious boyfriend who dad may or may not have approved.
But all Johnson can do now is wonder — wonder what his daughter may have become.
Ten years ago Cathryn was killed in what appeared to be a tragic house fire, but investigators later revealed Cathryn and Johnson’s ex-wife Jane were murdered.
It’ll be a decade Sept. 3 since the bodies of Johnson’s pregnant ex-wife Jane and his eight-year-old daughter were found dead in their Turner Valley home on Royalite Way following a house fire.
It has been a decade full of grief, pain and frustration for the family knowing the killer is still at large.
“This was the toughest year out of all of them just because I am watching all these other kids graduate and move away,” said Johnson.
“I still think about it every day. It just always makes me wonder what she would have been doing.”
RCMP originally ruled Jane and Cathryn died of smoke inhalation, but autopsy results later determined the 36-year-old mother was stabbed before the house was lit on fire.
Johnson hasn’t been shy about who he believes is responsible for Jane and Cathryn’s untimely deaths. Jane’s ex-boyfriend has been a suspect, but he refused to take a polygraph test.
Police cannot comment on whether or not he is still a suspect.
In order to track down the killer, the Calgary Major Crimes Unit, along with the assistance of the Turner Valley RCMP have investigated the case on a full-time basis, receiving roughly 30 to 40 tips from the public throughout the course of the past year.
After questioning hundreds of suspects, Turner Valley RCMP Sgt. Tyler Bray would like nothing more than to report a suspect is in custody and has been charged, however, that is not the case.
Bray remains adamant police are closer than ever to solving the case, but there are still a few pieces of the puzzle that are missing.
“We do have prime suspects, but we can’t elaborate,” said Bray. “There are pieces of the puzzle we still feel the public can supply for us. I think it’s important for people to try and remember where they were that particular weekend. We’d just like to have closure for everybody, the community and the families involved.”
A $50,000 reward is still in effect for information leading to the arrest of the person or persons responsible for the crime.
Anyone with information about the Johnson murder is asked to call the Calgary Major Crimes Unit or the Turner Valley RCMP detachment at 933-7227.
In the mean time, Johnson and Jane’s family is trying their best to keep the memories of their loved ones alive.
Jane was an animal-lover who loved horses and worked with special needs children at the Millarville Community School.
Just like her mother, Cathryn also loved animals and had a fascination with horses.
“She loved her horses and was just a normal little girl,” said Johnson, who remains confident the killer will be captured and punished appropriately. “They’ll solve it eventually. We still need some help, but it’s solvable.”