Want to join the Downtown Association?

Thinking of becoming a business member of the Downtown?

As of 2008, the Downtown Association implemented an Associate Membership program which enables commercial businesses located within the current hospital location to Huron Street and from river to rail to become members. This effort will further build on the Downtown profile and add to a 'below-the-hill' shopping and service sector. Associate members voluntarily subscribe to the program and receive all the same benefits as the 'traditional' members with the exception of voting privileges at the Annual General Meeting. Please call our office and we'd be happy to either drop by in person or send you a package of information on the benefits of membership in the Downtown Association.
Reach us at: 942-2919 or via email at info@saultdowntown.com.

History of membership

The initial By-law defined Queenstown as Queen Street and all the buildings on Queen Street from East Street to Dennis Street. After five years of planning, negotiations and consultations, the area boasted new sewers, waterlines and other underground services as well as surface aesthetic improvements. That same year, a full-time staff member was hired and a Queenstown Association office was officially established. In 1987, Pim Street to East Street was also refurbished (Heritage Square) and it officially became part of Queenstown in January 1988.

In 1998, for "marketing purposes", the Queenstown Association formalized the use of the name Downtown Association. This also coincided with significant provincial legislative changes where business taxes and assessments were eliminated. The responsibility for all commercial taxes shifted entirely to business "property" owners. For Queenstown, it meant that the approximately 150 commercial property owners were the members. Amendments to the municipal Act in 2001 recognized that portions of tenant rents were applied to taxes and membership was extended from just land owners to include tenants of properties.

The Downtown Association has a membership base of approximately 400 members including 150 building owners and approximately 250 tenants. The BIA formally covers an area more than one km in length. Recognizing that the downtown is more than just the BIA, the Downtown Association has championed the concept of a larger downtown core to include the Station Mall, the former Gateway site to the west and the hospital area to the east. Essentially the area defined by "river to rail" now falls under the definition under the IBI Downtown Improvement Study.