A long process

So here we are. The exterior is finally starting to look like something. This started with a sketch almost a year ago after 2 years of trying to figure out what this building could become.

Still to come is stain on the rear of the building. Not sure about the color yet - and the weather is too cool for any stain until spring so we have time to think about that. The front entry picture is to show the detail of the pot-lights that highlight the old tin ceiling tiles.

Next up: front suite and commercial space. All new floors, framing, electrical, plumbing, door, windows, bathroom - at least with a list like that it should be cheap.

Stay tuned for upcoming pics.

Have we made a difference yet? Who knows. We have had a number of people offering some very positive feedback. We have seen the hotel across the road take the first steps towards cleaning up.

I have included some pictures to get an idea of how things look heading into an early winter.

Things are looking up

Mine has been one of the many voices out there talking about the need to clean up, the need to paint and primp things. Well, as Andrea and I often do, we drove around the area a couple weekends ago. I have to say, this amazing spot in the Rockies is changing for the better. The overall look and feel is starting to be one of a small town with appreciation for mountains, the outdoors, history and charming individuality. I ask all those who have been complaining for a long time about the need for more general community pride - drive around, take a look, try to remember the way things looked just 5 years ago.



And in a related note. Here's the update for our place in Bellevue. Remember, our building was 1 part 1927 cool historic commercial building and 2 parts ugly additions from the '50s and '70s. Well, now the building keeps that 1 good part and adds 2 parts almost completely reconstructed (new structure, wiring, plumbing, flooring, roof...). In the end we'll have (this weeks plan at least) 1 bachelor pad, 1 larger 1 bedroom unit, 1 larger again 2 bedroom unit. For now the focus has been the bachelor pad so we have a place to stay when we are down to do work and on making the place look and feel inspiring from the outside.
So...

Next step the remainder of the new roof is installed including the tin wrapping around the back. At that point I'll be able to complete the installation of the siding - don't want to have it exposed to excessive rain. Then, the interior work on the front and rear suites gets rolling. I believe Paul and Robert have me booked in for "when the weather gets too bad for all the outdoor jobs they have lined up". Fair enough - just nice to have great guys we can count on.

Now... at some point I have a new mountain bike trail to build. I just want 5 full days, my chainsaw, a pick axe and a macleod.

What is Crowsnest Pass?

I am an owner of a small retail shop. A bicycle shop to be exact. The statistics for the bike retail business does not paint a rosey picture. The number of bike shops in North America has been declining steadily for about 20 years. The number of large chain box stores has obviously been increasing. To keep a viable business and to compete against box stores I know I have to do a better job - better than I used to do and better than what the competitors are doing now. I am a keen reader of anything touching upon the psychology of the consumer and the market - especially stuff that helps the little guy compete in a market jammed full of big guys. I'm a keen observer - always remarking or critical of business operations. I'm in my 7th year of business, we're in the grasp of a serious recession, half the people out there think exercise is something to be done a their Wii, we have an aging population and my business is thriving. I will allow this success to go to my head and call myself somewhat of an expert in business and Marketing. I'll even be pompous and say, if you haven't started a business with virtually nothing, built up that business, experienced the challenges and sleepless nights, been up against strong, wealthy competitors and succeeded - unless you've gone through it and created something successful, you don't know squat.

So now that I'm the expert, I'm going to offer free, expert ideas for Crowsnest Pass. Why? Well, I hate waste. I hate "throw away society". I like things that are authentic - people, places, whatever. It all culminates in a place called Crowsnest Pass - an authentic place, with authentic people, with a chance to save and celebrate its history rather than wasting and losing it.

So my title to this post is "What is Crowsnest Pass?". This is the question any business or person has to ask themselves before they can either improve or work with what they have. For this purpose, I'm going to consider the Pass as a business; one that needs an identity, needs direction, needs to know its strengths and its weeknesses and one that needs to know how to compete and essentially take business away from its competitors. If anyone says a town isn't a business, I say wrong. This town is a struggling business. It is losing population and soon will lose services if things don't get fixed. Crowsnest Pass needs to attract visitors, businesses and residents. As I have pointed out, I am an expert and I say for Crowsnest to compete, it has to find a couple things that differentiate it from other little towns then enhance those things then get the image in people's heads that Crowsnest Pass is about something - now what is that something?

We need to find our niche. Yes we're in the mountains and yes there is nature around and yes you can do stuff here but I would argue that none of these features are outstanding when compared to our competitors. There are more spectacular mountains, more prestine wilderness, world class ski hills, immense trail networks with great signage, watersports etc. But the places with these things have been exploited to the point where there is no remaining soul. The Pass has history and soul - sell that and let our mountains, recreation, scenery - let that all be icing on the cake.

Municipality: without knowing the details of the formation of the municipality all I can do is comment about a couple things. The word "municipality" is the least charming description I have ever heard for a place. Hamlets and Villages are romantic, Towns have history. Cities are impressive but the word Municipality creates no emotion and is just a corporate description - if anything, I hear municipality and I think about property taxes - not a great emotional connection. Municipality is a corporate description and should be lost from any and all references to the area.

This brings up a competitive advantage for Crowsnest (note I do not use the word "Pass"). For the sake of subtle suggestions in marketing and product naming. Crowsnest is, in fact, a place where baby crows stay - Crows are tough, glizzled animals yet nest is a very welcoming image. Pass is a way to get through or over something. Lets keep the message: tough grizzled place I'd like to stay, from now on, this is "Crowsnest". Sorry, I got off track. Competitive advantage; within Crowsnest we have 5 distinct towns each with their own story, history, tragedy, personality. Rather than being a municipality and wiping the personality from Crowsnest, how about playing with the richness of these 5 towns (and couple surrounding Ghost Towns too!). Seems ironic that Frank, the smallest town in Crowsnest is the one with the best known story and biggest tourism draw. There is so much to draw from: 3 remaining commercial areas that could each be attractions on their own (after some well thought out restoration and business stimulus - especially in Bellevue). The tragedy of Frank Slide, the tragedy of the Hillcrest Mining Desaster, the only woman hanged in Alberta, Bellevue shootout, the almost tragedy of forest fire, heroic fire fighting, the multiple fires in Coleman and Bellevue, the plane crash by Coleman, the numerous old mining sites, the cool creations in the creek above Flummerfelt, the wind, crooks stealing piles of money from investors with promise of fantastic returns and Las Vegas style resorts (oops got off track). This is interesting stuff when presented well you know!

The new pathway system - I sure hope the talked about 27 km of trail happens! where else could a family go and explore 5 different towns, each with their own story from the comfort of a bicycle - not worrying about being hit by cars, while riding through areas of beauty, tragedy, history, shopping, exploring. Perhaps us mountain bikers can build some sections of adjacent singletrack off-road trails so the thrill seekers can get some extra thrills along the way.

Do you see where I'm going with this? We need a strong story - a way visitors can describe Crowsnest in a few short sentances. We become a place to go to, not drive through.

To Be Continued... must go work.

Old school optimism - new school research. Be Happy.

I just spent some time cruising through my old posts. I guess I must be seen as the goofy optimistic guy in Bellevue by now. As far back as I can remember, optimism and dreams have guided me. I don't know if it is cause or effect but I'm getting awefully close to 40 years old and I'm pretty darned happy with where life is and how life has unfolded for me.
I listened to a converstation about a super-interesting study on CBC radio last week. The study's purpose was essentially to see if optimistic, happy people see things differently than those who have a more negative twist. The study went like this: 2 groups were established. The members of group 1 were shown happy pictures like puppies and babies (I assume rare, non-crying babies) and other "feel good" stuff. In group 2 the members were shown sadder stuff, not brutal stuff but just sadder - like people crying and stuff. After viewing these photos, the members of each group were shown an image on a page. In reality the page had a central, high contrast image that was surrounded by a lower contrast, subtle larger image. Those people who had looked at the sad images only saw the focused image in the center. Those who looked at happy images immediately saw that there were 2 distinct images. The conclusion: happy, optimistic people actually see their surroundings in a different way - they see more than their sad counterparts.
This study only touches on the impact of happiness and optimism. I'm sure somebody will do a study that finds that happy, optimistic people have more to be happy about in the end. A positive attitude attracts positive experiences. Someone will discover that health is improved by having a positive outlook. Someone will find that he who finishes with the most happy experiences is better off than he who finishes with the most stuff.

Paint and a Pane of Glass Anyone?

This is the view from my little window bench paradise. I can gaze at my favourite mountain - yup, that one behind the buildings is my favourite. It ain't spectacular but from its summit I can look back down at Bellevue, Frank, Blairmore, Hillcrest, Turtle Mountain, The Slide, The Prairies, see eagles soaring overhead, explore old mine-workings and I can ride my bike all the way down from the top. That is one inspiring lump of earth!

Below my beloved mountain is my beloved town of Bellevue. How can the owners of all those beautiful little commercial buildings just leave them the way they are. Bellevue's little downtown is about 20 gallons of paint, one pane of glass, and a few hours of focused effort away from being something amazing. We already have the ice-cream shop who know how to keep a building's charm intact and I'm sure would love to fuel the effort. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE SOMEBODY! Everyone complains that the municipality does this or doesn't do that. Bellevue could be the inspiration of the Pass and all through the efforts and passion of the residents/building owners. Does anyone want to start a "Beautify Bellevue" fund/association/group/club?

I received the following email a few days ago and have heard a great deal of promising feedback about what we're doing. The momentum is starting. Change is near.

Greetings,It is so refreshing to find someone with a dream that is willing to work on building something here in Bellevue, and in the Pass.We need more people like you. We bumped into Paul last weekend in Stone's Throw - has there seems to be a lot of curiousity about what is going on in downtown. Also it is great to see someone that can appreciate the heritage factor. That appeal is what makes places like Ft. Macleod stand out. A Qwikee Mart does not have much heritage value to it. We moved here because of several of the reasons you stated on your brainstorming.It is nice to see someone with some faith and optimism!
I wish you every success!

1 Day Weekend

Another weekend "Passed". The regular routine; drive down Saturday night, stay up late to try and absorb all the little things that have changed then try to sleep with all the excitement. This weeks visual change was the window bench. Robert and Paul, I think, questioned this silly idea of setting the one large window in the middle suite out enough to create a little spot to sit inside. My mind's eye could see it and knew it was a must. Now that it is done Robert and Paul seem to realize what we were after and the little chunk of extra space means so much when dealing with such a small suite.

Our motive on all 3 suites is quality of space not quantity. The world has enough large box houses covered in pastel stucco with measurements suited more to schools than families. Our idea of quality space is providing visual interest, warmth through natural colour, ergonomics and catering to those subconcious senses that know when a place is inviting. We are struggling more and more with motivating ourselves to leave on Sunday nights - I think we have, if nothing else, designed a place that makes us feel relaxed and inspired. 1 down - 2 more suites to go.

a great ride and more excitement about the building

The long weekend just passed. For me a long weekend means 2 days off in a row. I can't believe I have been somewhat a prisoner to my business for 7 years now - I own the keys to my own prison cell was something I heard from a retail shop owner years ago.

Anyways. I choose not to whine about my business. I own a bicycle shop that is doing really well - making a living while surrounded by one of my biggest passions is pretty awesome.

Saturday finished off a pretty dismal sales week in the shop in a pretty good way - as in we did almost enough on Saturday to make up for a slow week. It also meant the trip down was delayed and we only arrived in Bellevue at about 10:30PM Saturday night. Andrea and I stood in the parking lot just stunned gazing at the ever evolving shape of our building. After 2 years of driving up to the same beat-down, leaking, begging-for-mercy building it is surreal to see something slightly different, something more attractive every week.

During the week I had a little chat with Robert (one of our super-reno dudes) and we decided the boardwalk at the rear of the building was so nice that we'd go the full length. Andrea and I had been looking at all these ideas for finishing the crappy, utilityesque concrete and it wasn't until the chat with Robert that continuing the boardwalk was the perfect idea.

We are now patiently awaiting the arrival of our roofing material and we also need to figure out what we want (and can afford) for siding all the new construction.

Sunday rolled around and we headed to Stone's Throw (who have a pretty rad new website by the way) http://www.stonesthrowcafe.ca/ . We met up with Mike (the other main man at Bike Bros. http://www.bikebros.ca/) and his wife Adrian and little dude Isaac for great grub. We met up at the Bellevue shack and Mike and I decided to tackle Great Riddance. We are manly men who like pushing our bikes for 2hrs plus for 30 minutes of great gravity-fueled fun. See the pics for yourself.

The weather on Monday was aweful. Neither Andrea or I cared because we had (still have too) lots to do with the building. Andrea put sealer on all the fir trim which made it even more beautiful while I got to pull out a hammer and start removing the miscellaneous nails and chunks of wood stuck to&in a couple of the beams in the front section of the building. A great visit. Leaving was hard. Getting harder every time.