The Ottawa Citizen from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada • 6

flideau Gardens f) r- ir New light aids pedestrians crossing Belmont -River dale A flashing amber light has been added to the pedestrian crossover at Belmont and Riverdale avenues. The region's transportation department hopes the lights will make the crossover more noticeable to drivers. The lights will be operated when the pedestrian pushes a buzzer on the light standard. Ottawa South Businessmen campaign to return prosperity to Bank Street section Bryct Flynn, Citizen Bayshore the continent. "If it were permanently not-a fraction o( the number of people enjoy it," said the former rodeo rider.

Ottawa ends April 15 LaSalle will home to his farm near Oshawa for rest. Children visiting Bayshore Shopping Centre this week found a surprise in store in the form of a petting zoo. For 35 cents, children can visit with Ken LaSalle's sheep, goats, llamas and other animals. Jamie Dagmore looks a little taken aback when he and his mother Mary Anne met up with a goat. LaSalle takes his trav board sees to it the money is used to build a healthy business market.

Just what is required to bale out the economy is up to the management board. "We are looking at items such as potted trees, flowers, lights hung in trees and positive advertising," said Celotto. "Make Ottawa South a shopping mall." The businessmen have already begun pushing their concept. They are distributing a letter outlining their plans to all community shopowners. "I haven't even spoken with 50 per cent of them yet but so far everyone has been for it," said Celotto.

Since the provincial government enacted the legislation in 1969 many Concept success Ontario communities have enjoyed success with the BIA concept. The Bank Street Promenade in the Gilmour-Welling-ton streets area is a local example of a BIA project. A survey of south-end Bank Street merchants has revealed that lack of parking, the decreasing number of businesses, the deteriorating shape of some of the buildings, restrictive zoning and inadequate garbage collection are their prime concerns. Add to that list stiff competition from Billing's Bridge Plaza and a proposed shopping centre in South Keys as major headaches, said McSweeney. The promotion campaign began this week with the distribution of the committee's information sheet but the final results may be a long way down the road yet, said McSweeney.

"These things take time." "We never really felt like a community before," said Celotto. "But now we are getting 10 or 12 people together, it's a By Don Lajoie Citizen staff writer Businessmen in Ottawa South are organizing a campaign to bring commercial prosperity back to the financially troubled Bank Street business strip. Shopowners and merchants taking part in the Capital Ward Neighborhood Study are convinced that applying to city hall for status as a Business Improvement Area (BIA) is the only way to reverse an ever deteriorating business climate. The area seeking BIA endorsement extends from the Rideau Canal to Billing's Bridge shopping centre. The problem, said business committee chairman Al Celotto of Lewis Motors, is that people don't identify with the area as a shopping centre.

"Even the advertising we do for Lewis Motors says 'south of Lansdowne Park' without mentioning Ottawa South." Businessmen have noticed a slow but steady decline in their trade for several years, said city planning animator Eric McSweeney. They hope to use the neighborhood study, currently underway, to pump some adrenalin back into the econo-'my. Enlist support i Being accepted as a BIA; however, is not a rubber stamp procedure. Failure to enlist 'the support of one third of the other businessmen in the proposed strip or merchants representing half the business tax assessment, will result in a rejection at city council. Once application has been approved a I special tax is levied by city hall on all bu- sinenses in the district.

The extra tax revenue is distributed to a BIA board of management, consisting of One politician and several businessmen. The Neighborhood news What's happening in your neighborhood? We'd like you to let us know. Just phone The Citizen at 829-9100 between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. and ask for Neighborhood news or write Neighborhood news, The Citizen, 1101 Baxter Road, Box 5020, Ottawa.

Page 4, The Citizen, Ottawa, Friday, April 7, 1978 Residents get second look at Richmond Road rezoning Blackburn Hamlet Petting, zoo on tour Businesses already existing on the strip would be allowed to stay but would be classified as non-conforming uses. Planning board has been wrestling with the rezoning issue since late February, studying each building to determine what zoning may be allowed. Lawyer Gary Guzzo, representing eight Richmond Road businessmen, urged the board to speed the process up. "I've been here four or five times," he said. "There seems to be little consideration for the situation the businesman finds himself in." Guzzo said the 13-month-old development holding bylaw that has been in place pending the outcome of the zoning legislation has tied the hands of local businessmen.

"The businessman has been working under unbearable pressure since this holding bylaw was enacted. He doesn't have the slightest idea what will happen to him. Let's give the taxpayer a break and get this moving," said Guzzo. Board chairman Controller Marion Dew-er denied that the rezoning was nothing more than an exercise in spot zoning. City hall is not changing the zoning to suit the high-rise buildings and used car lots, she said.

"Much of what we have on Richmond Road is highway strip development. All these undesirable land uses will be non-conforming and their expansion will be limited under the new Vanier elling zoo across in one spot would be able to When his stay in take his managerie a much needed Ratepayers give go-ahead to improve parks in area A meeting of Blackburn Hamlet ratepayers has given the go-ahead to expenditures Tor improvements in community parks. A proposal to build two new tennis courts in Bear brook Park was approved. The courts probably won't be going in for awhile, according to Lynn Driscoll of the Blackburn Commmunity Association, because they join a list of other projects which have been approved but not yet implemented. The ratepayers also approved $500 to build an overhang to the existing backstop on the ball diamond in Bear brook Park.

The overhang, a high priority item will be going in soon, Driscoll said because it's a safety measure. I A proposal to build bleachers along with 'the overhang was defeated because the original concept for the park was not to jencourage major league play in the area. 'There were also space limitations, Driscoll said. A second ball diamond facility will also City asks groups to supervise centres Sundays Any legitimate community group wishing to use the local community centre on Sundays this summer will have to ask the city for the keys and supervise its own members, a city spokesman said Wednesday. The recreation department hopes to save $6,000 in 1978 by not staffing community centres on Sundays beginning July 1.

Application forms are available at city hall for any bona fide group wishing to use the centres. The spokesman said so far keys have been promised to a community group from Foster Farm but there have been no other inquiries. The city hopes to save another $20,000 by closing down indoor swimming pools one day a week on a rotating basis. Staff is still working on a schedule, but has agreed all eight pools will not close on the same day. Another $25,000 will be shaved from the 1978 budget if the city can find a way to shut down wading pools for an extra seven days this summer, without touching off too great a pub-.

lie outery. Katimavik CBE, March may share recreation at new school The Carlcton Board of Education (CBE) has established a committee to examine the possibility of sharing recreation facilities at the proposed Katimavik Elementary School with March Township. The school is to be built on Chimo Drive if the board receives capital grants from' the Ministry of Education for its construe-; tion. No date for construction or cost of the school have been established. much help as those with 300 members, he said.

Subsidies to community groups will nowl be in the form of services, such as free ice-time, rather than money, Cousineau said. The department has also set out somcC guidelines that groups will have to follow! to get support from the city. I Some of these include: The group has to be at least 51 peC cent composed of Vanier residents. The group must be non-profit. An annual report of group programs and activities must be submitted to the; city.

The recreation department must ber advised of meetings of the association and; receive copies of minutes of meetings. Annual general meetings must be held. Budget details must be submitted tor the department and a general" meeting of the association must accept thejf budget. All organizations must keep their doors open to new members. Ottawa planning board continued with the lot-by-lot rezoning of Richmond Road Thursday but with a pledge the public will get one more opportunity to examine, the bylaw before it goes to council.

Prompted by complaints from Richmond Road residents that the bylaw in no way resembles the four planning options presented for their input during the fall, city hall will hold another public meeting within a month to familiarize residents with the changing legislation. "We allowed public input on four alternatives," said Controller Pat Nicol. "We now have a fifth. We should have the courage of our convictions and take this back to the community." Under the proposed bylaw, much of the business-studded strip from the Western Parkway to just east of Cleary Avenue would be zoned residential and a 35-foot height limitation would be slapped on future developments. Hull, Outaouais, Ottawa Legal groups get federal funds to hire students Three legal organizations in the national capital region will receive federal funds to hire summer students.

The Hull Legal Aid Clinic, the Outaouais Legal Aid Centre and the University of Ottawa's preventive law program will receive funds to hire two students each for 14 weeks at wages varying between $140 and $160 a week. The funds are part of a $132,000 federal Ministry of Justice program to help public legal organizations hire students. The project will create 61 summer jobs across Canada. Gilles Barricre, director of the Outaouais Legal Aid Centre, said he already had 14 applications for the two positions in his office, all from law students at the University of Ottawa. The jobs involve public legal work such as preparing lectures on legal subjects for high schools and community groups and compiling data banks on consumer protection, immigration and workmen's compensation.

PHOTO REPRINTS Readers may obtain glossy copies of local photographs credited Citizen photo by phoning the Citizen library between 2 and 3 p.m. Monday to Friday. Cost is $6 for black and white, and $12 for color prints, plus Ontario sales tax. Phone 829-9100, local 221., Aylmer to get new cinema at Belmont shopping plaza be built, but the location has not yet been determined. The ratepayers association agreed to spend $12,000 for a ball diamond facility.

Negotiations are underway to find a spot for the ball diamond. Another motion to share with Gloucester township the cost of a lighted ball diamond in the park area behind the Blackburn Arena, was defeated. Also defeated at the meeting was a resolution to set aside 10 per cent of the $195,000 capital reserve account against possible overruns in costs. It was decided at the meeting that the community should make an effort to stay inside its budget, Driscoll said. "Very often we put money in the budget assuming it will be matched (by provincial grants) and the matching funds may not come through for several years.

"We decided we shouldn't plan projects until the money is available," Driscoll said. The movie house was built in 1909 by his parents. He ran the early silents with a piano pounding out the drama on stage and saw the birth of the early talkies. After years of success Lavigne was forced to close because of the Great Depression in 1937. Now the Pix Theatre stands abandoned and boarded up.

Lavigne is convinced the new cinema will be a winner. "If I could make a go of it in those days when Aylmer only had a population of about 5,000 I'm sure it will be a success today with about 25,000 people living here." In 1937, Lavigne's theatre sat 400 people at 20 cents a seat. The new cinema, to be built in the Belmont shopping plaza on the Aylmer Road, will seat 240. Prices for today's cinemas average $3. The new theatre is being built by plaza-owner Baghwan Gambhir, who is doubling the size of the existing plaza by building four new boutiques as well as the cinema.

Aylmer council passed a rezoning law to permit the building of a cinema and residents had until Thursday night to object; however no objections were registered. New recreation structure ups fee for pools, arenas Aylmer will have a new cinema this year. "And it's about time," said 76-year-old Emanuel Lavigne, who ran Aylmer's old 'cinema, The Pix Theatre at 93 Main St. Gatineau Poetry contest open to residents The city of Gatineau is offering $400 in prize money to encourage poetry writing. The city's recreation department, which is organizing the poetry competition, asks for only one entry qualification that entrants be residents of the city.

Poems new and old are welcome. Jo- Vanier residents will be paying more in 1978 for their recreation services. In a report brought to council this week, the city's recreation and cultural services department presented details of the new rate structures for city facilities. Alderman Guy Cousineau said the changes' are being made because the old rates were not covering the costs of operating the pools, arenas and community halls. In 1978 it will cost adults $1 and children 50 cents during free swimming hours where they were previously paying 25 and 10 cents respectively.

Skating at the arena is going up to $1 for adults and 50 cents for children compared to 50 cents and 10 cents in 1977. Rental rates for organized team sports and use of community halls will also be going up. In the past, Cousineau said, some groups such as minor hockey were getting heavily subsidized by the city. Now, organizations with only 30 members will be getting as-' hanne Lenncville of the recreation depart-jment invites residents to dig out poems written years ago which may be buried at the back of a drawer at home. 4 She also wants to encourage particiap-j tion by senior citizens, Poets may win up to $100.

Entry forms be obtained from Gatineau public library, 381 Maloney and from Gatineau Caisses Populaires. Closing date for entries is Aprii 19. i..