City hall event to spotlight downtown revitalization efforts

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This article was published 09/01/2025 (252 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

For the first time in a long time, all the pieces needed for a downtown turnaround are in place, according to the executive director of the Brandon Downtown BIZ.

And next Wednesday, the public will get an opportunity to hear more about what’s keeping the heart of the city beating.

“The last year has been unprecedented in the amount of co-operation and collaboration that’s happened downtown,” Emmy Sanderson told the Sun on Wednesday. “There’s a lot of positive momentum.”

The Downtown BIZ, which celebrated its one-year anniversary last October, has been working together with other local organizations, including the Brandon Downtown Development Corporation and the City of Brandon, among others, to address issues of safety and business in the heart of the city.

With all the good work going on, Sanderson said the public needs to know more about what is happening downtown.

As such, she will be one of several downtown partners who will make presentations next Wednesday as part of a State of the Downtown public event at Brandon City Hall. And anyone who’s interested in downtown revitalization is welcome to join.

“This is for the public,” Sanderson said. “We want the public to come down, anybody who’s interested. And there’ll be opportunities or questions for the various speakers.”

The presentations will take place in two parts, Sanderson said, with the first dedicated to economic development, with presentations from Sanderson for the Downtown BIZ, a representative from the BDDC and Ryan Nickel with Brandon city planning. This will likely include some updates on properties downtown that have the potential for redevelopment.

The second part will be dedicated to community development, which will include acting city manager Terry Parlow as part of the Downtown Wellness and Safety Task Force, Brandon Police Service Chief Tyler Bates, and Brandon Housing and Brandon’s community housing and wellness co-ordinator, Shannon Saltarelli.

“The hope is for this to be a good news event kind of thing,” Sanderson said.

The event came together out of several conversations between groups over the last several weeks, Sanderson said, and with all of the work being done to address issues downtown, partners thought it was the right time to speak to the public about what’s going on.

While she agreed there have been a lot of negative issues downtown over the years, and some revitalization efforts that have not shown hoped-for results, Sanderson said from what she has been told this is the first time there has been such a strong level of collaboration and co-operation among downtown proponents.

“It’s kind of like quitting smoking,” she said. “You don’t always get it the first time. But you just keep going. You keep trying and trying new things. What I see is we are kind of learning from what’s worked and what hasn’t, and trying again.”

When reached by the Sun, Brandon Mayor Jeff Fawcett said Brandon Coun. Kris Desjarlais (Ward 2) is helping organize the event.

“He’s kind of taken the bull by the horns on this one,” Fawcett said.

Desjarlais could not be reached in time for comment on Wednesday.

The State of the Downtown public event will take place in the foyer of Brandon City Hall, between 6-8 p.m. on Jan. 15.

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