Huge sheets of paper cover the six store-front windows that used to welcome customers into Sam the Record Man.
The popular music store now stands silent on Barrington Street — its doors closed and its main sign just a faded outline. Sam’s was one of the first closures along the once-vibrant thoroughfare, but it certainly wasn’t the last. Frozen Ocean clothing, Ginger’s Tavern, Peepshow Girly Boutique and The Book Room are now counted among Barrington’s dead.
According to downtown Halifax Coun. Dawn Sloane, revitalizing the area is going to take more than half-hearted promises and a few coats of paint.
“We as a municipality have to step up and put forth an effort … not just to say we’re going to invest (in Barrington Street), but to give confidence to others who may want to invest,” she said yesterday.
Last week, regional council took a concrete step in that direction, approving $900,000 in financial incentives for the area. The funding, awarded to three renovation projects that qualified for money under the Barrington Heritage District Incentives Program, will go toward much-needed facelifts for buildings at 1533, 1585 and 1673 Barrington St.
“I think it’s great,” said Attica Furnishings co-owner Suzanne Saul. “It’s long overdue.
(Barrington) right now looks the way it does because the city has hampered it by not re-investing in the downtown. The money keeps getting re-allocated out to the suburbs.”
Saul added there are new businesses coming in that “will really turn the tide” on the struggling area, but HRM needs to keep pumping money into new projects.
