MOOSE JAW — Many hands make light work, as the saying goes, which is a philosophy the Downtown Moose Jaw Association (DMJA) is adopting as part of a proposed cleanup campaign next year.  

Alex Carleton, DMJA board chairman, presented the organization’s 2025 funding request and a summary of this year’s activities during a city council budget meeting on Nov. 27, which featured presentations from 14 third-party community groups.

The downtown organization has requested $73,290 for next year; its grant this year was $44,290.

“Our downtown was seriously neglected this past year, and to many business owners, this was really disheartening,” Carleton said while pictures of sidewalks overgrown with weeds were shown on screens.

“We want to be part of what we feel would be the solution to these problems, and we think we have an exciting initiative this coming year to help with these issues.”

The Downtown Moose Jaw Association is starting “Helping Hands,” which will see eight volunteers and a part-time co-ordinator clean up the downtown block by block by weeding, sweeping, painting rusted infrastructure, dealing with vandalism, and handling garbage.

The group will work from Monday to Wednesday for three hours a day over 12 weeks during the spring and summer.

The association has had preliminary talks with Square One Community Inc. about providing volunteers, while it has also spoken with the Moose Jaw and District Chamber of Commerce about encouraging seniors — through the Moose Jobs Program — to join the initiative.

“And in these (tough) economic times, it could even be opened up to any citizens who want to make a few extra bucks and help the city look the way we can be proud of,” said Carleton. “We know this is a fantastic project for the upkeep of our downtown and a real positive initiative in the community and could also be built upon in the future.”

Interested residents could sign up for three to four shifts a month and join the other volunteers, he continued. Meanwhile, this is basically a make-work project, similar to an initiative during the 1930s that built Crescent Park.  

“I think it would be worth giving a try,” he added.

A second initiative the association wants to pursue next year is to paint a mural on the concrete wall along the Manitoba Expressway, Carleton said. This mural would welcome visitors, tourists and residents downtown and would be an improvement from the “awful” graffiti there.

The association also wants to install two billboards on Highway 1 that invite motorists to visit the community’s “notoriously charming downtown,” the group chairman added.

Carleton pointed out that Moose Jaw had a downtown business improvement district (BID) from 1988 to 1992, an indication of how much the city cared about the core. That BID was important since it helped install many infrastructure items — lamp posts, garbage cans and park benches — that residents still use today.

While Moose Jaw is the only major Saskatchewan municipality without a BID, the downtown association still wants to bring forward more projects to beautify the area, he said. Council needs to look to the past to see how passionate people were about the downtown and use that for future support.

The DMJA plans to approach council next year about creating a new BID, the group chairman added.

Mayor James Murdock inquired about the association’s Little Chicago Show and Shine Car Show, noting that it’s the second-biggest show in the province. He wondered how Moose Jaw could become No. 1, while he also inquired about whether the show needed to expand further north.

Saskatoon’s show is the biggest, although Regina’s has been going for nearly 20 years, said Carleton. Meanwhile, the association plans to expand the car show area further east and west on several streets so attendees don’t have to walk uphill as much.

Council will begin discussing the 2025 budget in January.