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Richard Kim, Juilliard dancer, with Michael Jackson, Gloria Estefan and Reba McEntire.
She has danced at the Oscars, American Music Awards, Soultrain Music Awards and national television commercials for Mastercard, Levi’s 501 and Frito-Lay.
But speaking last week at an arrangements assembly downtown about security issues on the block surrounding his Queen Street dance studio, Kim didn’t look to fix the problems.
“It’s getting dangerous,” Kim said. “It has reached the point where we are exasperated and very worried.”
Kim’s Studio Dance Arts is located in the Woolworth Building in Square One, in downtown Sault Ste. Marie’s advertising district.
He says severe drug activity began about five years ago, but has intensified in recent months.
The intersection near Queen and Brock is problematic, he said, like the little-known, dead-end entrance at the back of his building, ranging from Brock Street to Dr. Linda Myles’ optometry consultation.
“This specific corner and alley area, over the more than two years, has had such a bad frequency of vandalism and vagrants and drug addicts who are out there,” Kim told the Administrators of the Center Association.
“They do business. They’re shooting at him. They leave their needle syringes at the entrance, also on the roof. They’ve done a lot of things over the years.”
“One of my tenants saw someone on the roof shoot 4 times. And then he peed on the roof and left before the police made it.”
“Today, Dr. Myles’ called me and they saw a broker make a deal. When they went out to take a picture, he went on his bike.
“They’re all in that alley, on the roof, on the roofs of buildings along all that.”
Kim is involved because her business is frequented by young students, who appear between four o’clock in the afternoon. and nine of the night from Monday to Friday.
Just down the street, he told the center board, there’s Case’s Music, which also offers categories for kids.
Once, the rooftop citizens filled cans and beer bottles in the sewers on Kim’s roof.
“It flooded the whole ceiling, which infiltrated the dance studio. We had to close just before Christmas, early because it flooded.”
A few years later, the heating, ventilation and air conditioning (CVC) formula in its construction was demolished and had to be replaced.
Kim reported those incidents to his insurance company, but even to the police.
He says the frequency of incidents is increasing.
“It’s the alley that’s the biggest protection challenge right now because of the needles. There are needles out there. This is our emergency exit.”
“Our trash can that is locked, it is constantly hammered or something like that. They literally break the locks, they make holes in this thing, they just throw garbage into the alley.”
“We discovered inflatable dolls there once. Random stuff. Sometimes, clothes in the trees. Sometimes they seem to buy things there as if they were living.”
“They broke the PUC counter, the fuel meter there. We don’t report it because it’s a little random.”
This month, Kim discovered that the steel electrical conduit had been cut at the back of his building, in what was a search for resold copper.
The sawd-out pipes, thrown down the driveway.
Several have taken position since Kim spoke to the Center Association last week.
Rallies included representatives of Sault Ste. Marie Fire Services, Future SSM and Downtown Association, with Paul Scornaienchi of Ergo Office Plus contributing to the building code experience.
They talked about the beautification and lighting of the back lane and the option to modify Kim’s emergency exit.
A team from the Center Association returned to the alley on Wednesday and did a primary cleanup.
“They’re thinking of some of how to deter negative activity there,” Kim told SooToday.
“I agree with the general consensus that there is a challenge of “overview” that is at the root of some of the activities in the city center,” he said, referring to other people who consume substances.
“There has to be a solution or a remedy for this. In the meantime, however, the immediate challenge is to ensure the protection and safety of the city center, especially if the city tries to revitalize it.”
“COVID is a major factor,” Kim said. “Businesses closed since mid-March have turned the city center into a desert domain for a while.”
This, he told us, created “the best ‘playground’ situation for all the negative activity in each and every Queen block.”
“I’ve never noticed so many of them walking downtown when I was driving this summer.”
“It’s never been on the Square One block, yet I’ve recently discovered that there’s been more activity. Turns out they’ve moved from a block over the years. They’re being taken to the area,” Kim said.
“I want everyone to know that we know,” Ward 2 Coun said. Lisa Vezeau-Allen, director of the Center Association.
Vezeau-Allen has problems with coronavirus, the closure of the Neighborhood Resource Center, and a lack of intellectual fitness and resources for addiction as contributing factors.
“We are proactive. For all of us, we know that addiction is a problem. We know that there is an increase in crime of this nature. Array… But what we really want is a rehab center,” the councillor said.
Both Paul Scornaienchi and the president of the Center Association, Kristi Cistaro, want to report incidents like Kim’s to the city police.
“I’d inspire you to do that, no matter how small,” Cistaro said.
“The most vital thing is to definitely call the police to tell them what’s going on. Without this, we went blind and won’t have the mandatory statistics to go against it,” Scornaienchi added.
“We have to do something different. I want us to introduce Algoma Public Health into those procedures.”
Other news from the Center of the Week Association meeting:
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