The downtown core of St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada is defined by the city as the area between Highway 406 on the west and south, Geneva Street on the east until it reaches St. Paul Street then Niagara Street north until it meets Welland Avenue.
The area was originally known as a storehouse for goods at the crossing of an Iroquois trail over Twelve Mile Creek. Curving Indian trails formed the foundation of the downtown streets as they appear today. Among them remains the largest and most historically significant of the city, St. Paul Street - the spine of Downtown St. Catharines. Construction of the first and second Welland Canals behind St. Paul Street quickly elevated the area into a prosperous hub for commerce and industry in the Niagara Region.
The downtown's extensive history left an impressive showplace of heritage sites in the core. Architectural landmarks reveal the stories behind St. Catharines varying roles as the former seat of Lincoln County, a popular health-spa destination, and the premiere retail centre for Niagara. Like many downtowns in North America, the area experienced significant decline as shopping malls and power centres in the suburbs took over as major shopping destinations. Today, the downtown is experiencing its lowest vacancy rate since 2000, with over 120 shops, boutiques and over 50 culinary establishments. It has become particularly popular among Brock University and Niagara College students who frequent the many bars and clubs that are centred on St. Paul & James Streets.
Citizens of St. Catharines often complain of the lack of parking and inconveniences associated with one-way streets in the core. On April 3, 2006, St. Catharines City Council voted in favour of returning two-way traffic to the downtown core, at an anticipated cost of $2 million. As of October 2009, most of the conversion work is complete but is too early to determine whether two-way traffic has been successful in making streets safer, slowing down traffic and boosting business. The addition of two-way traffic, especially to St. Paul Street, played a role in the Ontario Wine Council's decision to modify the Niagara Wine Route to pass through downtown St. Catharines in 2014.
On June 16, 2006 the Province of Ontario released a Growth Plan under the Places to Grow Act, 2005. In the plan, Downtown St. Catharines was one of 22 places identified as an Urban Growth Centre, which will give the area a growth target of 150 residents and jobs combined per hectare by 2031.
Since the Places to Grown Act, municipal and regional governments have invested heavily in infrastructure projects in the downtown core. A detailed inspection and analysis of the Burgoyne Bridge in 2010 revealed the need for a new span over Twelve Mile Creek. Construction on the new signature bridge, which features a steel truss-arch, began in 2014 with an estimated budget of $91.35 million. In the nearby Lower Level Parking Lot, construction began in 2013 on the Marilyn I. Walker School of Fine and Performing Arts, a new campus of Brock University. When completed in 2015, the school will operate alongside the city's new FirstOntario Performing Arts Centre, which is also under construction on adjacent lands, and will house 500 full-time students in new buildings along St. Paul Street and the historic Canada Hair Cloth building.
The grand opening of the city's new spectator arena, the Meridian Centre, took place on October 21, 2014. The 5,300 seat arena was built by the municipality to house the Niagara IceDogs ice hockey team of the Ontario Hockey League.