NEW MINAS, N.S. — Although New Minas is a fine place to live in its own right, village staff have no illusions about what makes its commercial district – particularly Commercial Street – appealing to guests and residents.
“We’re a business district, especially Commercial Street,” said Gerard Hamilton, municipal operations manager with the Village of New Minas. “The intimate atmosphere of a small town is just not there. While Kentville has it square, we don’t quite have that here. We’re trying to get more of that intimate vibe in New Minas, to make things more welcoming to citizens and people coming into New Minas for shopping.”
Staff already have a plan to change public perception of New Minas – particularly on Commercial Street, the roadway most commonly associated with New Minas as an economic centre.
The village is in the midst of carrying out a beautification plan. Most recently, this has led to the creation of a new park on Commercial Street – the largest accomplishment from the plan to date.
“The village commission decided we had to do something about Commercial Street,” Hamilton explained at the site of the new park, near where the street intersects with Crescent Drive. “We want to make it look more inviting to people coming in – kind of give it a welcoming type of atmosphere.”
That welcoming atmosphere is in full effect with the new greenspace. The small park boasts ergonomically-friendly, wheelchair-accessible stone-tiled ground, benches, and a mulched, cultivated garden. This park, manicured, symmetrical and aesthetically pleasing, is a far cry from the ragged dirt and grass that filled the area before, and a step toward modernization for New Minas.
“We started off pretty simple a couple of years ago, with just some flower planters around the village around the streets,” Hamilton said. “While we did that, we were planning this park.”
The work to build the park took about three weeks in total, over the course of several months.
The land was owned by the province before it was revitalized.
When the village obtained permission from the province to develop the land, it hired a horticulturalist, Mark Jamieson, to advise regarding how to best utilize the space.
Jamieson said the design plan the village had was largely unaltered. He brought it to fruition, playing an advisory role in the process.
Jamieson aside, the new park on Commercial Street was the work of the village’s public works department.
“We’d rather do it in-house than contract it out,” Hamilton said. “Nothing against any contractors, but it’s nice to have control over your own destiny with this.”
The next step for New Minas is getting Christmas decorations for the coming holiday seasons.
“That’s something we’re looking into for this year. We’re in an early stage of it and looking at work on some other sites on Commercial Street as well. Those sites, we’re looking at making similar to this one – a small type of park,” he said.
“As time goes on, we’ll have meetings and discuss newer ideas. Hopefully we’ll eventually start beautifying the village beyond Commercial Street.”
