News from the St. Catharines Downtown Association - April 2020 No images? Click here ST. CATHARINES DOWNTOWN ASSOCIATIONGreetings, In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the St. Catharines Downtown Association remains committed to its members and those who support and patronize the businesses of Downtown St. Catharines. We are doing what we can to keep the community informed and updated through our frequently updated website and social media accounts. https://www.instagram.com/downtownstcatharines/ We know that you want to continue to support your favourite Downtown businesses. Many of them are continuing to operate by offering alternative solutions to serve you. You can place orders by phone or online for contactless delivery or curbside pick up at many Downtown businesses, or buy gift certificates to use in the future. Submitting positive online reviews (Google Reviews, TripAdvisor, etc.) is another helpful way to show your support. Contact the businesses you love in Downtown St. Catharines to find out how you can support them during these unusual times at the following link: CITY DECLARES STATE OF EMERGENCY On April 3, 2020, the City of St. Catharines, along with the Region and other Niagara municipalities declared a state of emergency in anticipation of a surge of local cases of COVID-19 in the coming weeks. The City of St. Catharines' website has information that residents need to know during the COVID-19 pandemic. Please note that payment is not required, on a temporary basis, for on-street parking meters or in municipal parking lots in Downtown St. Catharines. REPORTING CRIMINAL ACTIVITY All downtown business owners and citizens are reminded to report any criminal activity to the Niagara Regional Police at 905-688-4111 or Crime Stoppers of Niagara at 1-800-222-8477 (TIPS). Non-emergency criminal activity can also be reported through the NRPS online reporting system. In case of emergency, where the safety of people or property is at risk (fire, crime in progress, or a medical crisis), call 911. We hope you are enjoying your 2020 "The Dogs of Downtown" wall calendar from the safety of home. Please enjoy this photo of our April calendar dogs, Stewart and Frank, at Mindbomb Records, 27 James Street, Downtown St. Catharines. Mindbomb Records celebrates its 5th birthday this month! CANCELLATIONS AT FIRSTONTARIO PERFORMING ARTS CENTRE The FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre (PAC) is currently closed and all scheduled events have been cancelled or postponed until after 31 May 2020. If you hold tickets to cancelled performances, please let the box office know by Thursday April 9 if you wish to donate the cost of your tickets to the FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre for a charitable tax receipt, a credit to your FOPAC account, or if you would like a refund. Please email boxoffice@firstontariopac.ca WEBINARS Small business owners may be interested in the many free webinars being offered by various organization. https://www.facebook.com/DigitalMainStreetNiagara/ https://www.facebook.com/SCEnterpriseCentre/ If you are a business located within our downtown BIA boundaries, please make sure that we have your email address as we send out an additional newsletter in the middle of every month specifically for our downtown business members. To confirm if you are on our email list for downtown business members, please contact Carolyn at carolyn@mydowntown.ca The St. Catharines Downtown Association office is temporarily closed as staff are now working from home. We will continue to bring you news about what is happening downtown via our website and social media accounts. If you need to reach us, please email tisha@mydowntown.ca CARE MORE IN THE CORE Tisha, Carolyn, and the Board of Management St. Catharines Downtown Association |