By Stephanie Froese

Move out a change, not a loss

Jul 12, 2011 | 6:50 AM

The Royal Bank is the latest business to move out of Prince Albert’s downtown core and set up in the big retail area at the Cornerstone Shopping Centre.

James Banman, manager with the Prince Albert Downtown Improvement District Association (PADIDA) said they are sad to see the business leave but are eager to see what comes next.

“We’ve seen a few other banks leave already and some amazing businesses move into those locations,” Banman said.

At one point there were four banks located on the corner of Central Avenue and 12 Street. CIBC is the lone bank still at that location.

“We have no current plans to make a change with respect to our downtown Prince Albert branch,” said Rob McLeod, spokesperson with CIBC.

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There is no word yet what RBC's newly vacant space could hold, but Banman has an idea as to what he would like to see happen.

“It’s a two story building so I think it would be some high end apartments be put in upstairs and then have another one of those quaint little shops that you just love to see downtown come in to the bottom floor.”

Prince Albert's downtown is changing, Banman said. He said it is heading towards becoming more of a boutique shopping experience like Saskatoon’s Broadway Avenue, rather than a retail outlet.

“The exciting thing though about having new business or even existing strong business downtown is that they just love being here.”

Banman admits trying to keep people downtown can be a difficult task sometimes.

“They may have gone through some challenges, downtown related or not, that has jade their view of having their business located here.”

Banman said he sees banks in all cities are trending towards the retail outlets like at cornerstone but the downtown location was busy. He expects that whatever new business moves in will experience the same.

A traffic volumes report by the city shows Central Avenue has an average of 5,000 to 8,000 vehicles per day pass by the various businesses that line that street.

The Corner Stone Shopping Center sees about 10,000 to 20,000 vehicles per day pass by on 15th Street East.

As to how many of these vehicles actually stop off at any of the business along the way, Banman said that’s where specialized downtown shopping has an advantage.

“Downtown you go for the experience. You park your car. You walk around and you just soak it all in and that’s the way that Prince Albert is definitely going. You can see in other cities that have happened already.”

sfroese@panow.com