2 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER June 12,1974 OPENS NEXT WEEK Co-ordinator outlines pedestrian mall program By ED WRIGHT In less than a week a massive joint effort by the town and merchants of Oakville will bear fruit when, as if by magic, a three block section of L a k e s h o r e Rd. is t r ans formed into a pedestrian paradise. Oakville's Downtown Pedestrian Mall will open officially at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 18, when the mayor and various officials conduct a brief ceremony at Centennial building, where a stage and chairs have been erected. Following that, the Burlington Teen Tour Band will lead boy scouts, girl guides, and antique cars in a parade up and down the mall. From then on, as R o n a l d C o o k s l e y , downtown mall co ordinator. said last week, " It's good luck and God bless us." But the efforts of both town of f i c i a l s and merchants have assured that luck won't have much to do with it. They've left no stone u n t u r n e d in t h e i r attempts to make the m a l l a s u c c e s s . "Nothing's impossible," said Cooksley. " We just have to work at it." ENTERTAINMENT One area where hard work has really paid off is entertainment. Heading the mall bill will be the S t e e l C i t y Six, Oktoberfest Express Band, Climax Jazz band, Oakville Citizens Band, and the Burl ington Concert Band, among others. T h e r e 'll a l so be b a l l r o o m d a n c i n g demonstrations, square dancing for both teens and adults, theatre and choral presentations, fashion shows, and so on. And of course the downtown merchants will be doing their best to make spirits light with s idewalk sa les and specials. Cooksley expects one of the highlights to be the special day for the mayor and members of council. He. says he plans to turn the mall into a giant picnic area and invite the citizens of Qakville to eat lunch with their elected representatives. By June 18, Lakeshore Rd. should look more like a flower garden than a busy c o m m e r c i a l district. The mall will be adorned with benches, s u n s h a d e s , k i osks , benches, and over 6,000 square feet of blooming plants.. There'll be 1500 boxes of p e t u n i a s , 1,000 geraniums, 20 large ash trees, 20 evergreens, 5 blooming oleanders, 30 hanging baskets and over 800 other plants of various types. Two graduate students from Sheridan College, Mike Miller and Mike Fortune, along with D o n a l d M c K i n l e y , Master of Sheridan's School of Design, are mainly responsible for the layout and furnishings of the m all, which promise to be restive and refreshing. C o o k s l e y s a y s Lakeshore Rd. will be closed to traffic at midnight Sunday, May 16. The s tree t will be washed, cleaned, and made ready for the arrival of the first load of construction material, which is expected at 6:00 a.m. Monday morning. PREPARATION A work crew of local h i gh s c h o o l and university students will drop the planters into THE PLACE for creative picture FRAMING J0% discount during June $ouse <£f ^ ts, ,9"o u c v i u i M 5A lokeshore Rd t Oak v.lie 844 141 I Tues. - Sat. 11 a.m. - 5 p.m. SALESMAN MONTH J.P. SHILLING OAK-LAND LINCOLN/MERCURY is pleased to an nounce that J.P. Shilling has achieved the top sales for the month of April. We invite you to come in and allow J.P. to be of assistance to you. Oak-Land Lincoln/Mercury 570 Trafalgar Road (south of the Q.E.W.) Oakville, Ontario. Telephone: 844-3273 Toronto 364 3459 Mississauga 822-3593 By this time next week the scene on Lakeshore Rd. will have changed considerably. Signs warn motorists of the pending street closing to make room for the mall. place and fill them with soil before moving on to set up the kiosks, sunshades, and benches. Students from General Wolfe High School will plant the flowers, while employees of the Parks and R e c r e a t i o n Department add the finishing touches. The deadline for the work is 4 p.m. Tuesday in anticipation of the 7:30 opening. Business hours for establishments along the mall have been set at 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. But there's no reason for shoppers to hurry home at 9. They can sit down and enjoy the atmosphere or take in th e p r o g r a m s and O S avage Girls ltd 844-1392 festivities which will continue until midnight or 1 a.m. The only time the mall will be closed is from 2 a.m. to 5 a.m. nightly. The two weeks of m erry mayhem will come to an end at midnight July. Then student clean-up crews will move in, readying Lakeshore Road for traffic by nightfall on July 2. But Cooksley said the street may not be open until July 3. Cooksley is confident that the mall will not cause any traffic snarls. TRAFFIC "We're not changing traffic patterns at all. We're just restricting parking " he said. " We want to keep traffic moving on Robinson, Randall and Church Streets." Cooksley said a 20 foot emergency path has been reserved along either side of the mall, in case ambulances or fire trucks are needed. The pedestrian mall has been budgeted for $41,500, according to Cooksley. It was expected that cont r i bu t i ons f rom businessmen would raise $4,500 and the town would pay the rest. But by last week contributions from merchants and proceeds from the sale of licences totalled $11,300, which means that the town's share of the total has been cut from$37,000 to $30,200. Cooks l ey sa i d a substantial portion of the money spent can be ^recovered in future savings, since items such as furnishings can be re used for in future malls. Cooksley said flowers will also be replanted by the Parks and Recreation WE REPEAT G r e a t C r im p le n e S a le ! 60" wide Washable Beautiful Good weight O N L Y P E R Y A R D VALUES TO $5.95 yd. WE DIDN'T EXPECT ANY MORE BUT WE ALL GOT LUCKY! Hurry in for best selection ★ Limited quantities Fabric and Drapery Mil-Outlet Y our one-stop shop for the best bargains in Fabrics, Textiles and Draperies ready-made and by-the-yard. Kerr and Rebecca, Oakville 845-3661 Department throughout the town. In all, he estimated a 60 per cent return on money spent, even though he budgeted for only 12 per cent. A sort Of "mini-mall" atm osphere will be preserved all summer. Planters set up where trees are already planted will be left in place until the fall. Cooksley said the mall is strictly a community effort. All display areas and kiosks have been rented by local groups. Sheridan College is getting in on the act too. A group of students will produce a sound film documentary on the mall. Cooksley said he hopes the film will be of some he l p to o t h e r communities who wish to set up pedestrian malls. "We're confident that this is going to be good enough that other centres in Canada will want to know how we've done it." Not only does Cooksley think it will be good, but he said he thinks it will be the " biggest and best co operative venture that the town of Oakville has ever embarked on." Canadians eating enough to lose weight? You can eat enough (even more than enough!) if it 's the right kind of nutritious food. And you can still lose weight! The Weight Watchers Programme stresses good, nutritious food and plenty of it! Yet it helps you lose weight and keep it off for good! That's w hy this advanced nutritional weight control programme has been so successful for so many overweight Canadians. programme that fits the Canadiar way of life. »•> M w , 4* •lOOt IT wnr. Tar* f 4 1 | a « o , OAKVILLE St. Jude Anglican Church 160 William Street Wed. 9:30 a.m.; 7:30 p.m. WEIGHT WATCHERS® e IMhM . Im. 1914. m * ml M ru»>*r*4 frattmartL Wataar lln i Snkil f rpitartt «a>. U feffcn Raurvat