One of the founders of SoPa – the name for the entertainment district south of Parliament – says it’s time to get creative and start “moving things along” when it comes to downtown revitalization.
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One of the founders of SoPa - the name for the entertainment district south of Parliament - says it’s time to get creative and start “moving things along” when it comes to downtown revitalization.
Scott May says there are big plans for 2024. The SoPa organizer and owner of Bar Robo at Queen St. Fare says, since launching last year, the district has hosted a range of community events, including a cocktail contest, scavenger hunt and trivia.
Meant as a play on Manhattan’s SoHo district, the SoPa area is bounded by Parliament Hill to the north, Somerset Street to the south, Elgin Street to the east and Lyon Street to the west.
Along with Devinder Chaudhary and Joe Thottungal, the owners of nearby restaurants Aiāna and Thali, May has been looking to create special branding and launch events aimed at turning the neighbourhood into a go-to destination for foodies and anyone looking to have fun on weekends or after five o’clock.
“SoPa was originally envisioned as a grassroots thing that restaurants could do to help in the revitalization process of downtown, especially after the hardships of truckers, COVID, work-from-home orders,” explained May.
In the past year, SoPa has hosted entertainment events, appeared in the media and worked with local entrepreneurs to offer pop-up shops and discuss ways to attract traffic to the downtown core.
“We did it with almost no budget, no funding, and as a group we were pretty successful,” he added.
Co-organizer Chaudhary also noted the “positive, constructive and collaborative efforts” of the National Capital Commission and Public Services and Procurement Canada in an email to OBJ.
“Their understanding of the unique challenges faced on Sparks Street has been invaluable and their support has played a significant role in our efforts to bring businesses to this vibrant area,” Chaudhary added.
But there is work to be done, May said. While many local organizations have been working to address downtown revitalization, including the Ottawa Board of Trade, the Downtown Revitalization Task Force and local BIAs, May says, as he looks ahead to 2024, it’s time for more action.
“Stakeholders at various levels of government and in the community are vast and there are many and although there’s been lots of talk about the revitalization of downtown, I haven’t seen any action,” said May.
SoPa is able to address issues with an “entrepreneurial approach,” he explained, that will allow organizers to “get creative” in finding solutions.
“We’re approaching from the ground up. Being entrepreneurs, we tend to do things much quicker and it tends to be much more mobile, rather than larger organizations like BIAs or OBOT, who want to make sure they study a problem to death,” May said. “The entrepreneurial class is going to help move things along. That’s what we were built for and it’s what we will keep working towards.”
Some of the ideas include working with the federal government to access available retail space downtown and explore retail opportunities, most notably near Sparks Street, May said.
“The next step is helping Sparks Street by putting more high-profile activities and businesses in there that are going to draw more people in,” he said. “Sparks Street is a traditional dark hole of activity as far as I’ve been involved in Ottawa. We have to make sure we’re directing foot traffic.”
Other “creative approaches” include pop-up shops, showcasing local producers and activities, and exploring the possibility of a regular market on Sparks Street.
SoPa is also looking forward to collaborating with local festivals and exploring new possibilities for empty space. There are large, empty retail spaces on Sussex Drive and Rideau Street, May said, that could be “spectacular venues” for live music and entertainment: “Anything to help move the ‘Ottawa as a music city’ narrative forward.”
To that end, May said SoPa is excited to meet the nightlife commissioner, a new role that the city will begin recruiting for this month.
“We’re looking forward to working with this individual to help clear roadblocks like zoning or licensing … Nighttime economy is chronically and dramatically underserved as far as representation goes with the city,” he explained. “People view it as a nuisance rather than a huge economic driver in terms of attraction and livability.
“The ability of businesses to attract talent rests largely on the culture of the city, and nobody wants to move to a dull city. All of these things are really critical to moving on the path forward.”
SoPa is uniquely positioned to achieve these goals of revitalization and attractions for the downtown core, May said, as an organization made of entrepreneurs with a vision.
