“Construction downtown slows business,” store owner says

By Greg Murphy

BELLEVILLE – Jim Sanders said he always worries about construction coming to downtown.

QNetNews spoke to Sanders as part of our Municipal Election Project. We are speaking to people in Belleville about the issues they want to hear addressed during this fall’s municipal election campaign.

Sanders is the owner of PlugnPlayLand on Bridge Street East. He said he’s happy to see an investment in infrastructure in the downtown. But he’s worried that construction brought on by Build Belleville projects downtown will slow down foot traffic to his business.

Sanders launched a free downtown wireless internet service last month, and a web portal called blvl.net, to help draw traffic back into his store for when construction starts again.

QNetNews also asked Sanders for this thought about the new development proposal for downtown. Sanders said he thinks the proposal is a step in the right direction for downtown businesses. But he also said he doesn’t see how it will help those living with low income in the downtown core.

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