Kamloops is seeing a rise in new businesses moving into downtown.

Executive director of the Kamloops Central Business Improvement Association, Carl DeSantis, says in the first four months of this year, there were 46 new business licenses downtown. He says that’s double from the same period of 2019, and a 65 per cent increase from last year.

DeSantis downtown businesses and their employees have experienced “unprecedented challenges” in the past 15 months.

“Having said that, the KCBIA remains completely optimistic that as our community navigates away from this pandemic, our business community will reignite and once again prosper,”  he says.

“We are extremely excited about the provincial restart plan, and are actively preparing to welcome people back downtown. To celebrate within appropriate limits.”

Two weeks ago, Kamloops council approved the levy for the KCBIA this year for just under $292,000. That’s paid for by member businesses downtown.

Expect to see rotating block closures on Victoria Street starting “very soon” in downtown Kamloops.

Director of development services Marvin Kwiatkowski says the KCBIA is finalizing dates, and the block closures are expected to start late this month or in early July.

The rotating block closures will be on Fridays and Saturdays, and council approved bringing it in last fall.

Meanwhile, Kwiatkowski says plans for a pedestrian plaza on 4th Avenue remain on the shelf.

“The direction was to put that on hold. The only thing that we did, we didn’t have a consultant working on it, we already had some work done internally. So it was just my engineering staff who put together a final estimate. Just in case it resurfaces, there’s funding opportunities, and council wishes to move forward.”