Downtown St. John's

Downtown St. John's is the historic core, and central business district of St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Located north of St. John's harbour, it is the business, entertainment, and tourism centre with office buildings, hotels, restaurants, and other services.

Downtown St. John's
Neighbourhood
Looking east towards Downtown St. John's
Coordinates: 47.5645°N 52.7089°W / 47.5645; -52.7089
Country Canada
Province Newfoundland and Labrador
CitySt. John's
Ward2
Government
 • Administrative bodySt. John's City Council
 • CouncillorHope Jamieson
Websitehttp://downtownstjohns.com/

Geography
View of Downtown St. John's from the harbour. The downtown is bounded by St. John's Harbour to the east.

In the case of St John's the word "downtown" is ambiguous because it can be both taken literally, and can follow the dictionary. That is the old city is literally downtown, below the ridge along which Military Road runs. However, the word "downtown" usually means "the central business district," and its boundaries in St John's are sometimes extended further north and west.

The historic boundaries of Downtown St John's are usually thought to start at the harbour, and is bounded by Patrick Street in the west, Signal Hill in the east, and Military Road in the north. In recent years, the boundaries of the "downtown" (in the generic sense) have been extended further north and west. As such, it now usually takes in Military Road and LeMarchant Road (sometimes only as far as far Merrymeeting Road).[1]

Culture

Downtown St. John's is home to The Rooms, Newfoundland and Labrador's cultural facility, which unites the Provincial Museum, the Provincial Art Gallery and the Provincial Archives all under one roof.[2] The A1C postal code in the downtown area is known to have one of the highest concentrations of artists in Canada. [3]

Situated in Downtown St. John's, The Rooms is home to the provincial archives, art gallery, and museum.

Entertainment

The Mile One Centre is the city's main sports and entertainment centre. Built in 2001, it has been the home of the St. John's Maple Leafs, St. John's Fog Devils, and currently, the St. John's IceCaps. It is also a major concert venue. In April 2010 Mile One, as well as George Street, hosted the Juno Awards for the second time.[4]

The Downtown Busker Festival is an annual event held in August. The festival is the only one of its kind in the province and features local talent as well as national and international performers.[5]

Nightlife
George Street is a small road located in downtown and is the focal point of the city's nightlife.

George Street is located downtown and is the focal point of the city's nightlife. The short street is populated mainly by bars and pubs, which are open later than most others in Canada.

The street is the venue for an annual Mardi Gras celebration in October. However, the largest celebration on George Street is the six-night George Street Festival. The festival occurs at the end of July or early August and typically concludes on the Tuesday night before the Royal St. John's Regatta, which is set for the first Wednesday in August. Over 120,000 people making their way through the streets during the six-day period.

Historic buildings

St. John's is one of the oldest cities in North America, with numerous historic buildings from the nineteenth century.[6]

Economy
TD Place in Downtown St. John's. All Big Five Canadian banks have operations in St. John's downtown core.

Downtown St. John's is the central business district for the city and is the centre of the oil and gas industry in Eastern Canada. ExxonMobil Canada has its headquarters in the Cabot Building on New Gower Street, as well Chevron, Statoil and Suncor Energy along with other oil and gas companies have major operations downtown.[7][8] Fortis Inc. have their headquarters in the Fortis Building on Water Street and they own and operate several of the office buildings and hotels downtown.[9] All of the Big Five Canadian banks have operations in the downtown core as well.

Hotels

Retail

Downtown has many small stores including unique specialty stores and fashionable clothing boutiques for men and women. There are art galleries, bookstores, and music stores featuring the work of local artists scattered throughout the downtown.[10]

Government
Departments and agencies of the Government of Canada maintain offices in several buildings in the downtown core, such as the John Cabot Building.

Municipal

Downtown St. John's is the home of the St. John's City Council Chamber at city hall. Offices for the mayor, city councillors, and additional staff are also located in city hall.[11]

Federal

The Newfoundland and Labrador office for the regional federal minister is located downtown, as well many Federal Government departments and agencies are also located downtown in different buildings including: the Sir Humphrey Gilbert Building and the John Cabot Building.

Demographic

There are 10,025 people living in the downtown area. 52.5% are less than 35 years of age. 36.6% are between the ages of 36–64 and 10.4% are over the age of 64. The average age is 35.9 years and there are 4060 private households.

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See also

References
  1. "City of St. John's: Downtown Strategy for Economic Development and Heritage" (PDF). City of St. John's. p. 1.2. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 October 2007. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
  2. The Rooms. Therooms.ca. Retrieved on 2010-11-26.
  3. The Rock's capital is rockin' again
  4. 2010 Junos set for St. John's. CBC News January 22, 2010
  5. busker busker – Downtown St. John's, Newfoundland, Canada Archived September 12, 2010, at the Wayback Machine. Downtownstjohns.com. Retrieved on 2010-11-26.
  6. Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada and the Heritage Foundation of Newfoundland and Labrador
  7. ExxonMobil Canada moving to St. John's
  8. Suncor Energy Contacts
  9. "Fortis Properties – Property Profile". Archived from the original on 2014-06-28. Retrieved 2010-08-16.
  10. Shopping - Downtown St. John's
  11. "The City of St.John's - City Hall". Stjohns.ca. Archived from the original on 2008-12-21. Retrieved 2012-02-14.
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