by Kerry McCluskey
Northern News Services

NNSL (Dec 19/97) - Yellowknifers feel scrooged by city hall this festive season.

It used to be a big Christmas tree and plenty of decorations and lights festooned the downtown streets.

Not this year.

"It's absolutely terrible, it's a disgrace. I've never seen it like this," said Dolly Heinz, who has lived in Yellowknife for 25 years.

She blames city hall for the downfall in seasonal spirit. "It's like the last five years the city has lost interest in the downtown area. They're not taking care of it anymore. We used to have mayors that cared about Yellowknife and the people."

Gary Craig, director of public works and engineering for the city, said the decrease is budget related. "We used to do streetlights and wooden trees ... and the decorations started to deteriorate. Five years ago, we costed out the replacement of the decorations at $40,000. We decided to just put lights up."

Craig said the price tag on this year's paltry light show is $17,000.

Mayor Dave Lovell said locals objected when the ornaments were in abundance. "It's cyclical because when I first came on council, the complaint was the amount of money and electricity that was being spent on decorations."

But Gordon Humphreys, the owner of Eldonn Jewellery in the YK Centre mall, said money is a meagre excuse for the city's humbug attitude.

"The city spends money on other things that are not as worthwhile. I'm sure they could find a few dollars in lots of places," he said.

Hassan Adam takes matters into his own hands. The founder of Adam Dental Clinic puts on a yearly Christmas display that shames the city's efforts.

He said he feels the absence of holiday cheer may affect the city's growing tourism trade.

"Tourists spend a great deal of time downtown. It definitely has a negative effect on tourism. Cities in the South make an effort to take the time to arrange each festival. The lack of an impression makes tourists think the city doesn't care," said Adam

The mayor argued that he does care, but put this year's situation down to an oversight.

"I missed the boat on that and administration missed the boat on it. It's about time we did something."

Lovell, who said he misses the light shows of Christmas past, hopes to remedy the situation next year. "I'm of the opinion that if it costs you a bit of money, it costs you a bit of money. But you should be lighting up for Christmas. Next year, it'll probably be fit into the budget -- extra Christmas decorations."