Maverick

Glenn Crawford has a vision for Bank Street north. He sees it as a place of unity for people and businesses, much like “Chinatown” or “Little Italy”. Only his vision does not include “Chinese New Year” banners, or Italian car rally events.

It does however include a whole lot of diversity.

He has tirelessly, along with several other board members, sought to bring a colorless district a splash of lively rainbow color. Welcome to the up and coming “Gay Village”, an idea whose time has come.

Back in 2006, city counselor Diane Holmes, spearheading the Bank street reconstruction project, held a town hall to get various ideas. She was kind enough to solicit the opinions of the GLBT community (for the uninitiated, GLBT stands for gay, lesbian bisexual and transgendered) when putting the ideas together for how it was to be planned.

During this time, Glenn had put his name forward as the representative that would undertake the task of building a small gay village in this district. Since then, much has changed, and many good things are still yet to come.

The Bank Street Business Improvement Association or the BIA  has had the most powerful voice in the plans encompassing this district, as their businesses were the ones directly affected by this improvement project being undertaken by the city.

Over the last four years, Glenn and those actively supporting and working on the board for the gay village have made tremendous strides in bringing this idea to fruition. However, it has not been without some resistance. The BIA has been an unfortunate roadblock at times, but despite this, the initiative has been making strides.

Businesses signed on board with the village project are not doing too badly by showing their support. In fact, they are doing very well, a testament to how tolerance can translate into sound business.

The proposed village spans from Nepean to James street, and will encompass rainbow flag stickers in some windows for gay friendly businesses, and for others, rainbow flags proudly fluttering in the breeze, letting those looking to support gay businesses know exactly where they are. The concept has been a success in both Montreal and Toronto, and is taking form after some initial resistance right here in Ottawa.

Some work is still being done to nullify the fears of the naysayers, in particular, those that have expressed concerns of a “gay ghetto” taking shape. As well, there is always the task of enlisting help from the community at large. The village board has been working through this, and is doing so with some obvious success. Proof of the growing support system can be found with successfully supported events like “Build our Bank”, as well as Pride events during the summer, culminating with an outdoor film screening, open to the general public, in support of the village project.

Glenn is an dynamic and positive person, and is clearly the perfect representative to spearhead such an ambitious undertaking. He's very quick to ensure that credit is given to his tireless band of board members, as his efforts were certainly shared by the team in general. Bruce Bursey, Lee Callan, Iam Capstick, Hershel Kagan, Jayda Kelsall and Nicolaas Sont are definitely the backbone of this project. According to Glenn, and without them, the strides being made would not have been possible.

My interview with Glenn presented a wide array of questions, from what his vision was for this district, to the difficulties he's had to overcome to see this vision taking shape. I was surprised by the passion and the great knowledge this man possessed. He very generously took me on a personal tour of this district, explaining the history behind what has been done to date, pointing out every one of the businesses that had supported the project, as well as sharing with me his hopes for the future of this Bank street village.

His hopes for a wall mural at some point to represent the GLBT community is taking hold in reality. Also, at some point in the future, there's hope that the banners on the lamp posts lining this area of Bank street might be changed for something that contains a little more color than is presently posted along both sides of the street.

This patient and evenly tempered man has certainly piqued public interest in this ambitious undertaking. It certainly would make a nondescript area a lot more vibrant, as well as help support tourism through this region.

Bank street will never be in contention with the established villages in Toronto or Montreal. It doesn't have to be. With the village project, it's enough to represent Ottawa and it's diversity in a way that suits the populace of this region, as well as to attract the attention of all tourists from across Canada, and the world.

This is an idea that is forming into reality. One that promises to be a uniquely beneficial to Ottawa.