Northern Ontario developments!

[vid]

The architectural variety is nice, but they could have put more effort into making the styles work with each other.

City Council has approved a second study regarding downtown FW parking and approved the route rationalization study for Transit. We will find out next month where buses will park after Brodie Terminal is demolished in June.

The city will host an open house at West Thunder Community Centre regarding waterfront development of the Kam river from Mountdale to the lake, including the islands, on January 21 from 6:30pm to 9pm. The plan will be a joint study by Thunder Bay and FWFN, which owns the land along the south bank. (There will be a repeat of the open house on the 30th from 2:30 to 4:30pm at FWFN community centre for residents of that community and anyone else who missed the first session, it is timed so that you can access it via transit.) There is a community group that wants to turn it into another Chapples Park, I think it should largely be left as a conservation area with some small, environmentally responsible pavillions and attractions. (Museums and such.)

[russman]

StarTek is closing out of Victoriaville.

[Rocket1964]

Some dude got banned from the marina today for trespassing in the construction zone.

[RTD]

I would like to see more Kenora, Dryden and Fort Frances development updates. I'm sick and tired of hearing about all the exciting developments happening in Thunder Bay!

[Danny D]

Originally Posted by vid

I wonder if Compass Square will do better than Lakeview Condos, which is still just a three storey lookout in an empty lot after what, two years?

I looked on Sutton and apparently there is still 24 suites available for Lakeview... Im assuming that means a grand total of 0 have been sold? In my opinion the prices are a little too high for a condo in that location. If it was closer to any of the downtown areas I could see it doing a little better in that price range.

Originally Posted by RTD

I would like to see more Kenora, Dryden and Fort Frances development updates. I'm sick and tired of hearing about all the exciting developments happening in Thunder Bay!

Well there was this posted for Kenora in the Canadian City Proposal thread.

From
http://www.nelsonarchitecture.com/resgallery/index.html

I can't really tell the number of floors but it looks to be about 17-18 stories.

[vid]

16 storeys excluding the very top (might be a penthouse, might not) and the floor between the base and the tower (might be something, might not). If both of those floors are used, it is 18 storeys. It would probably turn out to be 17 storeys. I don't think it was proposed, I think it might just be an architect's vision. It does correspond to a lot they are trying to develop, though. If you check out the link you can see more renderings of it.

Originally Posted by Danny D

I looked on Sutton and apparently there is still 24 suites available for Lakeview... Im assuming that means a grand total of 0 have been sold? In my opinion the prices are a little too high for a condo in that location. If it was closer to any of the downtown areas I could see it doing a little better in that price range.

Unless each floor has seven units and the seventh unit of each floor has been sold, Lakeview Condominiums hasn't sold a thing.

[super39]

Does anyone have any info on the new subdivision (Maplewood Estates) corner of Arthur and Mapleward? I heard the 40 lots are almost sold out....seems like it will be a nice area to live.

[russman]

Here's a photo of the sign... http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=44...=all&subj=7739484430&aid=-1&id=605911583 looks as though quite a few lots have been sold.

[eternallyme]

The mayor of Timmins is....MAD...

'Don't lay off my papa'

MINING: Communities rally to prevent met site closure

With thousands of eyes upon him, five-year-old Jared Martin bravely walked onto the stage and spoke into the microphone, letting everyone know how he felt about the closure of the metallurgical site in Timmins.

"Don't lay off my papa and his friends," said Jared, who walked away to a standing ovation.

In only a couple of words and in a young boy's voice, Jared summed up how everyone was feeling yesterday as the Save the Met Site coalition held its first public meeting.

In addition to Jared, the afternoon meeting included a number of guest speakers, some from within the city of Timmins, others were supporters from surrounding communities, some of which will feel the effect from the closure.

All messages of hope were periodically interrupted by roars of applause and enthusiastic bursts of cheer.

"The only people who can help us is the provincial government," said Mayor Tom Laughren. "And the only way they are going to do that is because of people like you."

Laughren expressed displeasure in the thought of Canada's newest constructed smelter being shut down, and how it seems to him like Premier Dalton McGuinty would like to convert Northern Ontario into a park without heavy industry.

--------

Somer said increasingly the fate of Northern Ontario is being decided in cities like Toronto, Montreal, New York City and abroad, and that piece by piece and town by town, the North is being de-industrialized. The common message from all communities in the North, he said, was that Ontario resources must stay in the province.

"We've battled this for three years and more," he said. "We've been beaten, we've been knocked down, but we're not broken -- the spirit of Smooth Rock Falls is extremely strong.

"We, in the North, are at an important crossroads. What we choose to do and how we act over the next few months may be the most important steps we take in our generation."

-------

Bisson assured that shutting down Timmins would eventually mean shipping ore from the province out of the country. In total, Bisson said, about 3,000 jobs will be affected should the met site close, and the only way to stop it was to change the mining act.

"We need to change Concession 91 and take out the word Canada and put in Ontario," said Bisson, in regards to the legislation that says Ontario resources must be processed in Canada.

[vid]

Originally Posted by super39

Does anyone have any info on the new subdivision (Maplewood Estates) corner of Arthur and Mapleward? I heard the 40 lots are almost sold out....seems like it will be a nice area to live.

It's part of the Parkdale community development plan. They're spread out suburban lots, similar to those north of that subdivision at Wardrope and Hilldale.

-

City council approved zoning changes for the Mary J L Black library sites, and approved the development of condos and townhouses at Balmoral and Beverly.

[Gitfiddler]

Originally Posted by RTD

I would like to see more Kenora, Dryden and Fort Frances development updates. I'm sick and tired of hearing about all the exciting developments happening in Thunder Bay!

I've actually been meaning to do a bit of an update for Fort Frances

Current projects:

Fort Frances Library and Technology Centre:

South Entrance


South Side


East End


Interior





The original architectural drawings are available here (Powerpoint format)

Size: 13,622 sq ft
Project Cost: $4.7 million
Funding:
FedNor: $170,000
Building Canada: $1.967 million
Ministry of Culture: $1.6 million
Northern Ontario Heritage Fund: $440,000
Corporate Donations: $175,000 (Shaw Communications)
Individual Donations (Building for the Future Campaign): $850,000
Location: Second Street East at Reid Avenue, adjacent to the Memorial Sports Centre).
Completion: June 2010

Robert Moore School Reconstruction



Additional photos available here

Size: 51,000 sq feet, 2 stories
Project Cost: $9.8 million
Classrooms: 10 junior/intermediate classrooms, 7 primary classrooms, 4 JK/SK classrooms
Accommodates 480 students
Completion: Fall 2010
Funding: Rainy River District School Board, Ministry of Education
Location: Third Street between Crowe Ave and Armit Ave

[b]Heritage Tourism Project Phase II

Hallett/Lookout Tower relocation

This project involved relocating the former Natural Resources lookout tower, and the Hallett logging boat from Pithers Point Park to Laverendrye Parkway, at the Sorting Gap Marina.




View from the relocated tower:



You can see the Hallett's new home at the top of the pic, just past the marina docks.

New street signs were installed in December



New interpretive panels along the waterfront, and wayfinding banners will be installed in the spring.

Nodin Causeway rehabilitation



The Causeway is a 12km long series of island hopping bridges just east of Fort Frances. 2010 will be year 2 of a 5 year rehabilitation of the main bridge span. The project will widen the bridge and enhance views of Rainy Lake while extending the life of the bridge.

Completed Projects

St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church expansion

Architectural drawing:



Boston Pizza



I will have to get some pics of the completed buildings.

Proposed projects

Laverendrye Parkway Village

There's nothing much to report on this front. It's a 3 story waterfront condo project with 24 total units, next to the existing River Walk condo development. 1/3 of the units had been pre-sold as of last summer, but not much has been said since. It's still an empty lot with a sign.

Treaty Three Police Service Couchiching Detachment

T3PS is slated to get a new detachment building for their Couchiching Sub-Division. Currently the operate out of the OPP Detachment in Emo, and house prisoners at the OPP Fort Frances Detachment.

[russman]

Nice list! Seems like there is a lot of construction in Fort Frances.

[ccnews]

great pictures Gitfiddler, keep up the good work

in a way I'm supporting your community, I've switched insurance brokers to Gillon's which is headquartered in Fort Frances

[Gitfiddler]

Originally Posted by russman

Nice list! Seems like there is a lot of construction in Fort Frances.

Yeah, there's quite a bit going on. They also just built an $80 million biomass boiler at the Abitibi mill and the town has been going through a lot of sewer replacement and and road rehabs over the last few years.

But, at the same time, there are multiple established businesses for sale and multiple vacancies downtown.

Robert Moore is only being rebuilt because it has been allowed to deteriorate too quickly. The former high school has only had one wing redeveloped and the rest has sat as an empty eyesore for almost a decade.

The problem with Fort Frances - and the Rainy River district as a whole - is that it needs to diversify its economy very badly, but it will take a considerable amount of outside investment to do so. There's lots of money here, but most "wealthy" folks are cash poor. All the wealth is tied up in assets of some sort of another. Many of the main retailers downtown survive only because the own their buildings. Running a successful business with a mortgage on the property is very difficult.

Additionally, there is a severe lack of forward thinking on the part of the town council. Most of the really good pieces of community infrastructure - the new library, Ice for Kids Arena, Townshend Theatre and the skate park - all came about as a result of massive community fundraising efforts. The library almost didn't come to fruition despite people putting up $850k of their own money for the project. That's $100 for every resident of Fort Frances. It wasn't until a large corporate donation and some last minute government support that the town finally backed the project. They weren't nearly active enough in trying to secure funding, but they were incredibly active in getting the province to pay over a million buck to move the lookout tower and Hallett.

That problem, I think, stems from the fact that the Mayor and Council aren't full time jobs. Or, at least, they aren't paid full time wages. The Mayor only makes $23,000 per year. When you're Roy Avis, that's OK because Roy Avis owns a car dealership. He can afford to put in long hours for little money because he has the means to do so. That limits who can actually run for mayor. A normal guy with a normal job at the mill can't support his family on $23,000 a year. He can't be mayor.

They need to pay the mayor and council real salaries and make it a real full time job. Then, at least, you might see someone other than the same parade of established business owners or otherwise financially stable individuals through the mayor's chair.

[vid]

Except for the council wages, it sounds a lot like Thunder Bay but on a smaller scale. The economy is improving and jobs are coming to this community, but they don't do much to help the people who just lost their jobs, and the recovery isn't very obvious.

The Mayor of Atikokan until recently only made about 3,000$ a year. It was basically a volunteer position with modest reimbursement. He's pretty passionate though. He loves his community.

[Gitfiddler]

Originally Posted by vid

Except for the council wages, it sounds a lot like Thunder Bay but on a smaller scale. The economy is improving and jobs are coming to this community, but they don't do much to help the people who just lost their jobs, and the recovery isn't very obvious.

The Mayor of Atikokan until recently only made about 3,000$ a year. It was basically a volunteer position with modest reimbursement. He's pretty passionate though. He loves his community.

See, here there's no jobs coming in. The new Boston Pizza hired about 95 people. For a town like Fort, that's a huge deal, even though only a handful of those jobs are not minimum wage, part time positions.

Abitibi only directly employs about 600 people now. That's down a lot from 20 years ago, and it's not likely to grow any time soon. Granted, this mill probably will not close - it is one of only a few profitable mills - but the direct economic impact isn't what it used to be.

A big problem here is a failure to engage on the part of community leaders. I've heard a lot about the issue of youth retention. It's a big issue, one of the priorities, apparently, of town council. One would think that perhaps creating a strategy to address the problem of outmigration of youth would include involving young people. I'm in my late 20's. I moved back here several years ago. I'm a university educated young professional - essentially the prototype of who they want to get to stay here. I've never seen anywhere or anyone who would involve someone like me in working on such a strategy. That's small town thinking at it's finest.

A second problem is that too many people here look at Fort Frances as a market of 8,500. But it's not.

Within a half hour drive of Fort Frances you have:

Couchiching: 500
Lavallee/Devlin: 1,000
Alberton: 1,000
Emo: 1,300
International Falls, MN: 7,000
Ranier, MN: 300

Add in another 1,000 or so in unicorporated areas and other reserves, and it's actually an immediate market of around 20,000. Between the Rainy River District (21,000) and Koochiching County in Minnesota (14,000), there's really an extended market of 35,000. That's our service area. There's no reason why the Fort/Falls can't operate with that market mindset and develop accordingly.

Additionally, there are 500,000 tourists using the Fort Frances bridge as a gateway every year. But there's no reason to stop here. Hell, there's only one chain hotel in Fort Frances (Super 8). There's only one other good hotel (the Rendez-vous) and then a slew of motels and — accommodations. I don't know of any other communities of this size with that poor of accommodation.

It just seems like there's a severe lack of intelligent development. There's a lack of quality rental accommodations.

Perhaps the worst thing is the Abitibi wood lot. It's right in the middle of town, which puts too many large trucks on the streets. It takes up prime real estate along the waterfront. There's a huge amount of space there to develop. With the library being built next to the arena, there are already the first steps towards reorienting the town centre to that area. The wood lot is right across Scott Street (the main street) from there.

But even the location of Scott Street is kinda dumb. If you are travelling through Fort Frances, the most economical route is down Second Street. Major traffic flows don't enter the centre of the community. There's nothing on Second St that really entices anyone to stop. Sure they may stop at McDonald's or Wal-Mart further west, but not in the main part of town.

It absolutely doesn't take advantage of the massive amount of east-west traffic that flows through the town. Of course, it's only where it is because of pre-hydro dam conditions where it was necessary to portage across much of what is now Fort Frances. Today's downtown, while not orientated in a strong location as per modern planning practices, exists where it does due to where the portage trail went. Rather than understanding that, there's such a push to preserve and develop Scott Street instead of focusing on smart locations for smart development - the wood lot and the former FFHS site being the most obvious.

Sorry for the rant.

[vid]

127-133 Simpson Street (Club 777 or "the triple nickel" and the Remnant House) has burned down. The Remnant House was recently renovated.


127-131 Simpson in April, 2009

Photos.

[russman]

Too bad that Simpson Street lost another building, but it's one less building that has to be demolished for the Multi-purpose facility.

[vid]

Yup. That's another thing I forgot to mention to Dee. I'll send it to NNL instead I guess.

The Remnant House didn't burn down, they saved it. I remembered, shortly after taking a photo of it, that they put in a better firewall between the two buildings when they rebuilt the roof.


I'm actually impressed with how little damage there is to the building.


There is a fire hydrant below this sign, it was probably used to fight the fire and likely had a bit of a leak, covering the whole sign in this globby ice.

[tjernobyl]

I had Northern Windows, who I believe currently occupy the former Remnant House, booked to replace my front door this morning. They called to say the firefighters wouldn't let them get to it to bring it over. I guess they have a good excuse

CBC this morning said that the Club 333/555/777 building was abandoned.