Downtown Association changes name, defends shabby, cluttered office

The Downtown Association has a new name.

At a meeting last night, the association's board agreed to rebrand itself as the Sault Ste. Marie Queenstown BIA.

BIA stands for business improvement area.

The decision comes less than a week after the embattled business group narrowly avoided losing its status as a business improvement area, after a group of dissident property owners campaigned to have it dissolved.

In fact, the rebranding is largely a concession to dissidents Dom Ruscio and Joe Bisceglia, who argued that the association was misnamed because it didn't represent all of downtown, just six blocks of Queen Street.

The Downtown Association board agreed last night that it will make no concession to Ruscio and Bisceglia's demand that it expand its geographic boundaries.

Instead, it will continue working with traditional downtown partners including the City of Sault Ste. Marie and Station Mall.

The newly-named association will now proceed with a corporate restructuring.

It will issue an immediate call for nominations to its board.

A dozen members will be selected, unless the board follows a suggestion from Bisceglia to reduce its size.

Board members can be members of the association or they can also be chosen to represent the broader community.

Bisceglia is not a member but has submitted his name for consideration.

On October 12, the association will submit a slate of proposed directors to Sault Ste. Marie City Council, which has final say on board membership.

The BIA will also start work on a strategic plan, including a rebranding strategy expected to include its website, signage and stationery, as well as tourism- and transportation-related issues.

Although detractors of the Downtown Association have recently accused it of overspending, the office at 496 Queen Street East shows few signs of excess.

In fact, Manager Duane Moleni was forced to defend the decor last night when Carrie Suriano from Case's Music expressed concern that the ambience had changed since Thinking Rock Community Arts and another tenant were recently allowed to sublease space to generate additional revenue.

"This place looks like a shizzle-hole," offered Suriano.

Or perhaps she didn't say shizzle-hole.

But she definitely said something that sounded close to shizzle-hole.

And then she added: "It totally looks like what our street looks like."

"I just see piles of stuff all over the place. It doesn't look very nice in here," Suriano opined.

Acknowledging that the place was clean, she still didn't like the couch in the hallway and was bothered that there was nothing on the walls.

To allow our readers to decide for themselves, SooToday took a photo of part of the Downtown Association's office decor last night.

It appears at the top of this article.

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