At the far end of what is now Old Airport Road during the Second World War lived a prospector who always had something to say. People, including long-time Yellowknifer Jean Piro, knew him as "Gramophone Joe."
Glen Vienneau
Northern News Services
Yellowknife (Dec 06/00) - "He had a place dug in to the side of the hill by the airport. It was kind of a log front with canvas," says Brian Piro, Jean's son.
Piro says even though Joe suffered from poor hearing, it didn't stop him from chatting up a storm until he passed away in the 1960s.
"I remember we drove him back out there one day," from a downtown coffeeshop says Brian, adding, "He would be hanging around the Diner right now if he was still here."
A squatter, Joe lived on the side of the road next to an old army storage site which is now home to Great Slave Helicopters.
Today, the road serves as home to about 45 commercial lots and is one of Yellowknife's most desired retail/commercial locations.
Originally, when the MacKenzie road from Hay River was completed in 1963, the only business existing on Old Airport Road at that time was believed to be Canadian Propane (now ICG Propane), says Piro.
In the 40s Brian's father, the late Mike Piro, and his partner, Fred Henne, bought out the city's only garage and car dealership Frame and Perkins, which was at the time located downtown.
By 1969 the pair had bought a lot on Old Airport Rd. They established a bus depot at the site, while the car dealership remained downtown.
It didn't take long for other businesses including Western Moving and Storage Ltd. and RTL-Robinson Enterprises Ltd. to realize the potential the road offered and start setting up shop on the road -- an area that was quick to be commonly called 'Gasoline Alley.'
By 1979, in attempts to escape the city's high taxes, Piro and Henne's car dealership packed up its downtown location and moved to what is now the present site of Northern Metallic Sales.
"As other companies came in and took segments of the market, they downsized their companies," says Les Herring, who now manages the new bus depot owned by Frontier Coachlines NWT.
The depot was taken over by Frontier Coachlines NWT of Ile Holdings Ltd. of Hay River in 1991, believed Brian.
Out with the old
Today, in order to overcome lack of space the Old Airport Rd. site offered, Herring has relocated the bus depot to Kam Lake Road.
But, it was not a decision he made without consideration, as he scouted for other areas such as the more expensive Stanton Plaza.
"It was not a option to stay here any longer, it seemed to be the only place that was available in my price range.
According to Dave Jones, city planner for the Planning and Lands division, commercial development in the past five years on the road has increased. That is, for the stretch running from the Stanton Regional Hospital medical clinic to the MacKenzie highway.
"The whole area from our perspective is looked at from our perspective as a commercial area," said Jones, adding that city's bylaw now reflects that area as a commercial zone.
As a result, more and more industrial-type businesses have either relocated to Kam Lake Road and simply moved out, he said.
"You can do sort of multiple shopping visits along Old Airport Road," said Jones, adding, "It is a car-dependant type of trip. it's not a walk-in type of area like downtown is."
For recent businesses such as Diamond Glass Ltd., it's the drive-by traffic that makes it the only place to be, said Debbie Budgell, secretary and receptionist.
"There's tons and tons of traffic. There's a lot of exposure on Airport Road," said Budgell.
So, when the company found itself needing more space at the neighbouring lot, they decided to stay.
With plenty of parking and storage space within the leased building and outside, the company also continued to have access to the airport and other amenities.
For Budgell, these are benefits that simply couldn't be found anywhere else in the city.
Lot's of traffic
"People don't like going downtown through the lights," she said, adding that tourists coming from the airport or from the MacKenzie highway are also regular customers.
"They say that there's 300 vehicles between eight and nine in the morning driving past here," says Gord Olson, owner of Polar Tech.
Last November, Olson became the first tenant of Diamond Field Plaza, which is the most recent lot being developed on the road.
Although he previously had his business on Old Airport Rd. for two years, he first started out in Kam Lake.
Relocating on the same road was a good business decision, regardless of the higher taxes he endures over other areas in the city.
As one of Olson's customers was quick to note: "Well, if you're not on the road to Wal-Mart, how else am I suppose to find you."
