Dane Gibson
Northern News Services

NNSL (Aug 06/99) - The city started construction on the four-block Franklin Avenue beautification project with a promise -- two city blocks to be completed each month.

That was July 3, and the first two blocks are not completed yet, which has business owners along Franklin fuming.

"They're well into the week that they were supposed to start the next section and they're not done our block yet," Sutherland's Drugs owner Stephen Gwilliam said.

"Maybe five years down the road this will be a wonderful thing, but right now it's making it tough on my customers and it's making it tough to pay my rent."

The beautification project includes adding new ornamental light standards, birch trees, benches, asphalt and sidewalks along Franklin.

Gwilliam has watched the construction since it started and calls the effort "poorly organized." He said some of his loyal customers dodge the heavy equipment and piles of dirt to get to the store, but sales are down.

"Most of the services provided down here can be provided in Frame Lake South," Gwilliam said.

"I would think many people are just avoiding the area, which is why business is hurting."

Manuela Flowers owner, Manuela Keenan, said she watched a man in a wheelchair take a half-hour to get into a neighbouring store.

For her, the fact that there is little in the way of marked pathways through the construction shows a disregard for the public.

"I told the city if they're trying to put me out of business, they're doing a good job," Keenan said.

"It's really hard because we cater to a lot of elderly people, and they can't get in. It's been really hard."

City of Yellowknife public works manager, Greg Kehoe, admitted the project was behind schedule because of machinery break downs. Digging around electrical conduits has also been a problem.

"It's taking a little more time for us to get momentum going but there's a real rhythm to the construction now," Kehoe said.

"By the middle of next week, we hope to be finished the sidewalks and asphalt (on the first two blocks), then make up the time on the second phase to bring things in on schedule."

He said the contractor, Volker Stevin, and the many other sub-contractors and companies working on the project are well aware of the deadlines and are committed to meeting them on time.

"It's a multi-disciplined operation that is focused on finishing on time," Kehoe said.

"We hope to show that at the end of it all, this beautification project will significantly enhance the downtown area."