Revitalization plan breathes new life into city's core.

Kathy Jaeger wondered if she was taking a chance moving her upscale backstreet eatery onto Main Street in downtown North Bay.

Certainly her regulars were not crazy about sharing their favourite spot with others.

But the new venue meant better rent, tripling the size of her establishment, more room for catering and a more visible location.

Two months after her grand opening, one cannot expect to show for a lunch seating at Jaeger Meisters without a reservation. Business people with fat wallets and empty stomachs are practically lined up out the door to dine on gourmet sandwiches, quiche and the house specialty, crepe lasagna.

Her staff has ballooned from five to 20, and instead of squeezing in 26 diners, she regularly packs in 60 for the afternoon rush.

Not too long ago, downtown North Bay resembled a de-militarized zone with vacant storefronts, old fire sites and clusters of loitering young people. Big box and retail development such as the Northgate Mall expansions had zapped the economic vitality out of the core.

Today, the downtown is undergoing a development facelift, thanks to an award-winning revitalization plan, and businesses like Jaeger's are a big part of that renaissance.

"By 2008, North Bay will be such a destination place; I wanted to be a part of that," says Jaeger.

Like many of her neighbours, Jaeger has hopped on the bandwagon, buying into North Bay's multi-pronged plan to spruce up its downtown and convert the abutting former CP rail lands into a major community and tourist destination with botanical gardens, carousels, a railway museum and Heritage Train.

"I kind of feel like a bit of a risk taker, but I want to be part of that attraction. If it takes me moving down here to get other restaurants and businesses down here, then that's fine," says the Cambridge, Ont. native, who worked as a chef for 14 years at Churchills and the Pinewood Resort before taking a flyer with her own place.

She took advantage of a City of North Bay incentive program offering a $50,000 interest-free loan to renovate two storefronts by tearing down a wall separating a former tattoo parlour and a dollar store to create, what one Toronto newspaper described as, a "funky gourmet diner."

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Five other new businesses have opened in the downtown core since North Bay's Community Improvement Plan was launched last May, including another restaurant, a specialty candy store, a securities trading firm, a stained glass shop and an interior design store.

In eight months, the business recruitment drive has generated $1.1 million in private investment for building renovations and 56 new full-and part-time jobs.

Five vacant buildings have been purchased for revitalization and the program has received both national and provincial awards recognizing their work. The city provide financial incentives for business owners, in the form of tax exemptions, grants up to $15,000 and interest-free loans.

By IAN ROSS

Northern Ontario Business