The town of Cobourg is marking the completion of a number of projects to re-imagine the downtown. Cobourg’s beach has always been a draw but the town wanted to revitalize the central downtown business district, after concerns were expressed that residents and visitors did not see the downtown as a viable destination even though it’s only a block from the beach.
In consultation with community groups and individuals, a Downtown Vitalization Action Team came up with 11 projects to make downtown Cobourg a place where people would want to go. These include infrastructure improvements like streetlight enhancement, security cameras and vehicle wayfinding signs. Less physical projects include a downtown heritage building asset study and a tourism asset feasibility study.
“Not a lot of communities have their downtowns right on the waterfront and we need to see the tie-in between the waterfront and the downtown because that’s how visitors and consumers see us, as a beach community and a waterfront community,” says Economic Development Officer Wendy Gibson.
Cobourg mayor Gil Brocanier says he has noticed the projects have had a positive effect on the downtown.
“They can see that there’s a difference because of the little things that we’ve done that are starting to collectively see the number of people that are visiting Cobourg, as well as pedestrian traffic and the businesses, seem to be strong” says Gil Brocanier.