Northern Ontario developments!

[softee]

From www.baytoday.ca

City follows new path to improve quality of living
By Kate Adams

North Bay City Council discussed surrounding the community with scenic nature trails. The ultimate goal is to build new trails that will link up with existing trails that will create a loop around the city; starting from Callander, across the waterfront, up Gormanville to Canadore, across the escarpment, and around the remainder of North Bay back to Callander.

“We have an extensive trail system now,” says Community and Works Chair Mike Anthony. He added that the city is looking to double the amount of trails in the next five to seven years.

This is not strictly for nature and walking trails. The proposition includes sidewalks and adding possible bike lanes in the Active Transport plan. This plan’s goal is to improve sidewalks and trails throughout the city making transportation easier on people so driving the car is not the lone option.

Councilor Anthony says that this project will be working on a year-by-year budget because of the ever-changing maintenance costs due to the price of gas as this also includes the transit system.

The Active Transport plan will also cut down on the traffic clog this city falls victim too. With the addition of new trails, the city will become more accessible for people as it will link with other trails and make it possible to walk or bike instead of causing traffic backlog.

Anthony says that the citizens in North Bay are eager to see this project get underway.

“It’s what people love about the city. Five minutes after work, you can be at a lake.”

[vid]

Many people in Thunder Bay are already at a lake when they're at work?

Well not too many now that the elevators have closed but you know what I mean.

The "ZOMG CONDOS WILL DELETE THE SLEEPING GIANT" crowd is doing better with its petition than the "We follow common sense and reason" group, which has better thing to do than overreact to nothing.

Thunder Bay's tax increase this year will be 2.89%. According to NIMBYs, this will cause homelessness, drug use and murder.

[Rico Rommheim]

In the spirit of Rommanista, may I ask what the tallest building in Northern Ontario is? I was in Sudbury once and I saw an ugly-ass concrete tower, but I think it was 11 floors. Also Kenora has a surprisingly tall hotel! But which one is it?

[vid]

Sudbury has a building that is bona-fide 18 storeys, but Thunder Bay's Waverley Park Tower has 19 above ground floors. The entrance is on the third level and the first three are hidden by a parkade, so technically it only has 16. It's position on a hill gives it the dominance of something in the 22-26 storey range. The tallest building that isn't owned by the government is probably Kenora's 11 storey Best Western. Which is, by the way, the tallest hotel between Ottawa and Winnipeg.

The tallest building around Lake Superior is Duluth's Alworth Tower, it's only 16 floors but at 75 metres its a third taller than anything in Thunder Bay or Sudbury. Sault Ste. Marie also has a 16 storey apartment block. That seems to be the magic number of floors in this region that no one seems to have been able to built past, not that they haven't tried. A 22 storey tower in Thunder Bay was cancelled in 2004 because it would "cast a shadow" and "create traffic". It's now a group of 4 storey condos and an old folks home that will actually have more residents than the 22 storey building.

edit: Sudsy's tallest is 17 storeys. Soo's is 16 and Thunder Bay's is 16 too but built in a hill. The back part there has a basement level above ground so from a distance it looks like 17 floors, and then that base is part of the parkade. Inside the parkade is some sort of recreation centre thing on floor -2, which is 18 levels. Then there is a basement below that. When you consider that it's up on a hill from where the picture in that link was taken its probably comparable to standing beside a 20 storey building.

In addition to that, we never include the grain elevators. The tallest could easily match a 20 storey building in height. And we've got 16 of them still standing.

[softee]

North Bay had a 14 storey apartment tower on Lakeshore Drive, but it was imploded due to structural instability 9 years after it was built and replaced by an 11 storey apartment building which has certain design peculiarities which result in it being about the same height as the 14 storey building was.

The tallest building in downtown North Bay is also an 11 storey apartment tower.

[softee]

I recently found out what and where North Bay's third new hotel development is to be, it will be a Hilton Hampton Inn and unfortunately it's not going to be located downtown - it's going to be constructed near the Algonquin Ave./McKeown intersection in the city's North end right beside the new Boston Pizza.

In this pic, the green patch in the centre of the photo is where the new hotel will be located.

[vid]

That's too bad. But I think this will be the first Hilton in NO?

[vid]

Here is something surprising..

Shortage of vacant space in Thunder Bay hurting industry
Tb News Source | Web Posted: 2/18/2008 4:13:57 PM
http://www.tbsource.com/localnews/index.asp?cid=104849

A lack of large vacant industry buildings may be hurting the expected rebound in Thunder Bay's economy. In the last week, two separate companies eyeing the city as a possible growth opportunity have expressed concerns over the lack of usable building space. And local real estate agents say the demand will only continue to grow.

When it comes to industrial and light industrial space in Thunder Bay it appears there just isn't that much to chose from. That was the sentiment of Activation Labs' President Eric Hoffman when his company announced last Friday that they'd be setting up shop in Confederation College's old Moffat Hanger.

Hoffman isn't alone in his concerns. When discussing the possibility of a major oil sands manufacturer coming to Thunder Bay, Senior Economic Development Officer Richard Pohler said they'd require a 100-thousand square foot facility. One that isn't easily available.

That's the problem with Thunder Bay: We have a lot of vacant space, but its scattered all over the place. There are lots of buildings that might be 25% to 50% full but a business will look at that and say Sorry, we needed 60% of the floor area there" and we lose out. Aside from that, we don't actually have anywhere to even built a 100,000sqft facility, outside of Innova and the Harbour land, without contributing to urban sprawl.

[vid]

Waterfront proposal challenged
By Jim Kelly of the Chronicle Journal | Tuesday, March 4, 2008
http://www.chroniclejournal.com/stor...l.php?id=95705

Thunder Bay‘s waterfront development project could be slowed by a total of six appeals to the Ontario Municipal Board, but it won‘t be a delay that can‘t be overcome, says city solicitor Rosalie Evans.

“The project can‘t proceed tomorrow but I don‘t think the project is ready to proceed tomorrow anyway,” Evans said Monday.

She said three bylaws come into play in the appeals, and each has two appeals by differing parties.

One of those individuals, Heather Woodbeck, co-chairwoman of the Friends of Marina Park, promised last week there would be appeals to the OMB against the multi-million dollar project.

The group opposes waterfront development. The other appellant is Rory McVicar.

Evans said the appeals were filed on behalf of the individuals involved and not on behalf of Friends of Marina Park.

Last Monday, city council voted to proceed with the project.

Council voted 7-2 to defeat Coun. Linda Rydholm‘s motion to rescind the capital budget for waterfront development.

The vote was met with derision by Friends of Marina Park who packed council chambers to listen to the discussions on Rydholm‘s motion.

While the appeals could delay the project, Evans said the city owns the waterfront land and could proceed with something that is not incompatible with the current zoning.

“So if we wanted to do a study or something that will ultimately help, we‘re entitled to do that,” she said.

If this is anything like the Flying J, nothing will happen to the site for years.

Heather Woodbeck, Rory McVicar, and Linda Rydholm have to be run out of town.

[vid]

Beginning tomorrow (Tuesday the 18th), TBTransit Route 5 South Neebing, the "bus to nowhere", will begin service! Making Thunder Bay the first city wealthy enough to provide public transit to trees! (In reality, it will serve about 3,500 people living in the wealthiest suburb in Northwestern Ontario; where car ownership is 99.9% and everyone there actually voted, not even 9 months ago, they they do not want transit service! It's good to know city council isn't ignoring us on the waterfront but on transit issues, too!)

It will operate on Tuesdays and Thursdays, twice in the morning and twice in the evening. We put our whole gas tax revenues to this!! Meanwhile, 3 Memorial is overcrowded at the best of times.

I haven't been keeping my site up to date lately. I'm a failure. And the Shoppers on Memorial is open now. I don't really have much else to add. I just had to say that thing about the bus to nowhere.

[Koolfire]

Originally Posted by vid

Beginning tomorrow (Tuesday the 18th), TBTransit Route 5 South Neebing, the "bus to nowhere", will begin service! Making Thunder Bay the first city wealthy enough to provide public transit to trees! (In reality, it will serve about 3,500 people living in the wealthiest suburb in Northwestern Ontario; where car ownership is 99.9% and everyone there actually voted, not even 9 months ago, they they do not want transit service! It's good to know city council isn't ignoring us on the waterfront but on transit issues, too!)

It will operate on Tuesdays and Thursdays, twice in the morning and twice in the evening. We put our whole gas tax revenues to this!! Meanwhile, 3 Memorial is overcrowded at the best of times.

I haven't been keeping my site up to date lately. I'm a failure. And the Shoppers on Memorial is open now. I don't really have much else to add. I just had to say that thing about the bus to nowhere.

Providing service to an area that has what, 1 house per acre, if that.

[vid]

LOL! 1 house per acre? I wish. It's more like 8 acres per house! (According to statscan and a bit of math)

This area is less dense than all of Grey County!

[softee]

From today's North Bay Nugget:

New development in North Bay
By Jennifer Hamilton-McCharles

A parcel of land on Josephine Street will be the home to several new businesses this year.

Mayor Vic Fedeli said construction of a seven-storey Hilton Hampton Inn, a Shopper's Drug Mart and doctor offices will begin "as soon as the frost leaves the ground" and completion should be done by the end of this year.

He said the area is already beginning to be cleared.

[vid]

Some news from the Northwest:

Marathon

Wind farm prospects promising
Carl Clutchy | April 2, 2008 | The Chronicle-Journal
http://www.chroniclejournal.com/top_story.php?id=101180

One of the more significant economic developments Marathon has seen in several years has taken another step to being approved.

Brookfield Power‘s plan for a $250-million wind-power farm about 20 kilometres west of town could receive government approval this spring following a mandatory public review of an environmental “screening” report.

The Ottawa-area company wants to build 66 turbines on Crown land in an unpopulated area just north of Neys Provincial Park.

The turbines, each 80 metres tall and sporting three blades as long as half a soccer field, are to collectively produce up to 100 megawatts of electricity.

That‘s about half the capacity of Brookfield‘s existing wind farm just outside Sault Ste. Marie.

Brookfield project manager Ian Kerr said construction on the Marathon-area site is expected to begin in 2010, creating a maximum of 200 jobs over the 18-month construction period.

The company will likely establish an office in Marathon to be staffed by about 10 service technicians, Kerr added.

Though the network of turbines will require the construction of about 40 km of access roads, there will only be a handful of locations from the Trans-Canada Highway that will offer a view of the machines, said Kerr.

Noise isn‘t expected to be a concern because the nearest dwelling is two km away from any of the proposed turbines, Kerr said.

The environmental report does not identify any significant impact on birds or other wildlife.

Though details haven‘t been finalized, the wind farm is expected to plug into the provincial energy grid through an existing 230,000-volt transmission line.

Kerr said the turbines the company plans to use have a life-span of about 25 years. Service technicians access the hub and blades by climbing up inside the towers.

The environmental screening report can be viewed online at www.coldwellwind.com.

Hard copies can be obtained at Marathon town hall, Pic River First Nation band office or the Ministry of Environment office in Thunder Bay at 435 James St. S.

Public comments must be received by May 1.

Thunder Bay

Cleaning up the place
Jim Kelly | April 2, 2008 | The Chronicle-Journal
http://www.chroniclejournal.com/stor....php?id=101181


Panoramic Properties Leasing agent Lesa Mihichuk and owner Michael Allen were in the County Park area on Tuesday. The company is refurbishing townhouses in the neighbourhood.

The down turn in the Northwestern Ontario economy hasn‘t discouraged a Niagara Falls developer from purchasing and renovating 161 townhouses in Thunder Bay‘s County Park neighbourhood.

“We didn‘t see that as a big concern,” architect and project manager Michael Allen said.

Allen‘s company, Panoramic Properties, has undertaken the 18-month project to refurbish units on Prescott Crescent, County Boulevard, York Street and Halton Street.

“Our company owns property all over Canada,” Allen said.

“We‘re constantly researching different areas to do our work in. We find buildings that are not such good quality buildings and bring them back to life,” he said.

“So this fits our formula. Our research showed it was a good opportunity to work there.”

Allen didn‘t disclose how much his company paid for the townhouses, but said the redevelopment will cost about $3 million.

Royal LePage real estate agent Jack Mallon said this is the perfect time for a developer to fix the County Park townhouses.

“We have a shortage of homes for sale as well as townhouses and apartments,” he said. “We‘re getting shorter by the minute. That‘s why this guy bought those townhouses.”

Allen said the townhouses require work on roofs and windows to make them more energy efficient, as well as interior renovations. About one-third have already been upgraded.

His company is employing local sub-trades and suppliers.

Allen predicted the houses will be in fine shape once all the work is completed.

“I‘m cleaning up the place and making it a better community,” he said. “Hopefully we‘ll bring it back to its previous status of not being a low-rental place.

“It‘s a very nice area.”

York Street in 2005. (My photo)

In the name game, TBCA stays the same
Alana Toulin | March 29, 2008 | The Chronicle-Journal
http://tbay.ok.bc.ca/stories.php?id=100457

A community auditorium by any other name will still be as sweet, at least according to Bob Halvorsen.

The Thunder Bay Community Auditorium general manager may not know why the facility did not receive any proposals for naming rights by the March 27 closing deadline, but he‘s fine with that for now.

“From my own point of view, we‘re quite proud of the name of the TBCA,” Halvorsen said.

“We spent 22 years building this place up, branding it, and hopefully making it into a name that the people who live in this town are proud of. Not having a name change at the moment – I‘m OK with that.”

He said the two companies that had expressed serious interest earlier this year – TBayTel and Shaw – just didn‘t get back to them by the deadline late Thursday afternoon.

“At 4 p.m., the tender closed and we just didn‘t get any responses, so we‘re not sure why,” he said.

But he did not seem angry about the way things ended. Instead, he expressed his appreciation at the companies‘ initial interest.

“It showed they at one point saw some value in attaching their name with us, which tells us we‘re doing something right down here,” Halvorsen said.

The lack of a single proposal may have been quite the setback, but it doesn‘t necessarily mean the TBCA will by known by that name in the decades to come. Halvorsen said the board might consider trying to find a naming sponsor again, except they might advertise nationally instead of keeping it local like this time around.

“This was the first time at it and obviously we didn‘t get any results,” he said.
“I don‘t think it‘s a dead issue in either my mind or the board‘s, so I think we‘ll be going back at it at some point in the future.”

[softee]

Here's an article from today's Nugget about all the new development along the McKeown Avenue corridor.

Caution: Construction ahead in '08
By Gord Young

The city is reaping the economic spin-offs of its hospital project with development in the area picking up as construction continues.

A seven-storey Hilton Hampton Inn and Shopper's Drug Mart near the new Boston Pizza on McKeown Avenue are the latest projects in the works in the northwest end of the city, where even more progress is expected over the next several years.

"We're going to be seeing a lot of construction," said Mayor Vic Fedeli, noting work is also expected to begin this spring on the One Kid's Place children's treatment centre.

In addition, Fedeli said the city expects to award a contract later this month for the construction of a roundabout at the Gormanville Road and College Drive intersection.

The entire length of Gormanville Road is slated for reconstruction this year.

Fedeli credited the North Bay Regional Health Centre project, which is still more than two years away from completion, as a key driving force behind development in the area.

"It's the hospital and the college and university," he said, noting Josephine Street is an ideal location for the proposed Hilton Hampton Inn because of its proximity to the hospital.

Likewise, Fedeli said McKeown Avenue was a smart choice for Boston Pizza, which has attracted college and university students as part of its clientele and will no doubt draw from the staff and visitors at the new hospital.

Darko Vranich, of the Burlington-based Vrancor Development Corporation which is building the new hotel, said the close proximity of the hospital and airport played a key role in site selection.

"We hope to start building in about two months," said Vranich, who wants to complete the project before the end of the year.

Vranich, whose company was behind the Holiday Inn Express on Seymour Street, said the new hotel will employee about 42 people and include a pool area as well as conference rooms.

Derek Shogren, general manager at Canadian Tire on McKeown Avenue, said the store has been keeping a close eye on what's happening in the neighbourhood.

"It's exciting . . . and it's obviously going to benefit us," said Shogren, noting the store has experienced above average customer increases in recent years.

He said the McKeown Avenue location was actually turned down by seven potential owners before Paul Lamont opened the franchise in 1994 because there was little confidence for future development in the area.

But the past decade or so has been ultra-busy in that end of the city which has become home to a Wendy's and Tim Hortons, Harvey's and Swiss Chalet, Sobey's and No Frills supermarkets, Staples and an expanded LCBO outlet.

Professional offices are also expected to be built on Josephine Street alongside the new hotel and Shopper's Drug Mart. And a large tract of land adjacent Canadian Tire, previously slated for a Loblaws Superstore, is now being marketed for sale.

Fedeli said undeveloped properties in the area are likely the most valuable in the city.

He pointed to the idle Nordfibre plant on Eloy Road across from the future hospital and another parcel across from the One Kid's Place children's treatment centre site on McKeown Avenue as prime examples.

"There are still a few other prospective properties on McKeown Avenue," said Fedeli, also noting upgrades to the Highway 11 and McKeown Avenue intersection are imminent due to increasing traffic. The city also has future plans for improvements on McKeown Avenue, including widening of the street from Cartier to College Drive.

It's possible as construction in the area continues that there may be future development in the Cedar Heights and Laroque roads area atop College Drive. But Fedeli said that's not likely to happen any time soon since municipal service would have to be extended to those areas. He said there are plans, however, to install a standpipe in the area to increase water capacity to allow further development of the college and university.

Peter Handley, a former city councilor who lives on Cedar Heights, agreed development will depend on water and sewer services.

But for now, he said, area residents enjoy the country setting within the city. And Handley said he hopes any development that comes their way is reasonable.

[vid]

Spring is when the construction starts again.

First off, phase two of Pine Crest Condos or whatever they're called has been under construction for some time, the crane has been up for about a month now and when I went by there yesterday evening, I saw that the building is about half done. It's topped out but still just a wooden frame. (A four storey wooden frame! Who wouldn't want to live there? )

Construction starts on two new correctional facilities
Tb News Source | Web Posted: 4/4/2008 4:24:13 PM
http://www.tbsource.com/Localnews/index.asp?cid=106404

Construction will soon begin on two new youth correctional facilities one in Thunder Bay and the other in Fort Frances.

The province announced the start of the two projects on Friday that total $28.4 million. The 16 person facility in Thunder Bay will be built next to the existing Correctional Centre and the 12-person facility in Fort Frances will be the first of its kind in Canada, dedicated solely to rehabilitating aboriginal offenders. It will also be run by a regional aboriginal organization. Both are expected to open in early 2009.

Arhictect pleased with progress at conversion projects
Tb News Source | Web Posted: 4/4/2008 8:08:17 PM
http://www.tbsource.com/Localnews/index.asp?cid=106405

Work is progressing albeit a little slower than hoped, on a couple of major projects in the city where new retirement communities will spring up from what was once well known city landmarks.

Local architect Ahsanul Habib says everything's going well at the former McKellar hospital and the Fort William Collegiate Institute sites where construction will begin soon and sales of the suites at FWC have been strong.

In the next few months the former McKellar hospital takes a new shape and new function as the demolition phase nears completion. Habib says the building will be transformed into a 118-suite retirement facility on one side, and a 35,000-square foot office complex on the other side. He says he hopes to start construction within the next couple of months.

''Actually, it's a little behind, but everything's going very well. As you can see, we have removed all the buildings that (were) supposed to be removed. That was a lot of work to get those buildings removed. And we have done a lot of work inside, to get it ready for the contractor.''

No one appealed the rezoning plans and he hopes to open the facility on September 1 of this year. And construction for a new, nearby Shoppers Drug Mart is also underway.

While Habib says he's currently concentrating on the McKellar site he's also working at another huge project going on at the former Fort William Collegiate Institute. He says since the re-zoning has recently been approved for the 38 condominiums and 8 town houses there, he's been working on getting the financing and other legalities in order. He adds he's pleasantly surprised with the number of units they've sold so far.

''The first night we sold 15 and then since then, month, month and a half, we sold another 15 with cheques, deposits. Yeah, that project has done very good, very well,'' he said.

Habib had originally planned to have the former high school ready for occupancy for the fall but says construction has fallen back a bit and the new owners should be able to move in by the summer of 2009.

[vid]

LPS has released plans for its new high school to replace Hillcrest (where I went) in 2009. It's quite fancy.

View plans and information about school

They're keeping the kiln in the art studio too.

The architecture is crap but the technology is cool. Hopefully they'll change the architecture at some point, but I think construction is already underway. :\

[Koolfire]

Originally Posted by vid

LPS has released plans for its new high school to replace Hillcrest (where I went) in 2009. It's quite fancy.

View plans and information about school

They're keeping the kiln in the art studio too.

The architecture is crap but the technology is cool. Hopefully they'll change the architecture at some point, but I think construction is already underway. :\

You look at the floor plan? No lockers, no books in the library, the boys changeroom (the ones on the left) have showers the girls doesn't. The boy bathroom on ground right doesn't have a sink. No wheelchair accessibility to the second level. Access to the two classrooms on second floor in the top right is questionable. The classroom that has access through the library is weird too. What's a communications room?

The seating for 800 in the gym is not enough for school assemblies, the cafetorium is can seat only 400 students but a school with 48 classrooms should have a capacity of over 1200 students and no lecture hall. Well, I always thought it was cool that FWCI had a lecture hall but it got so little use.

[Danny D]

Originally Posted by Koolfire

You look at the floor plan? No lockers, no books in the library, the boys changeroom (the ones on the left) have showers the girls doesn't. The boy bathroom on ground right doesn't have a sink. No wheelchair accessibility to the second level. Access to the two classrooms on second floor in the top right is questionable. The classroom that has access through the library is weird too. What's a communications room?

The seating for 800 in the gym is not enough for school assemblies, the cafetorium is can seat only 400 students but a school with 48 classrooms should have a capacity of over 1200 students and no lecture hall. Well, I always thought it was cool that FWCI had a lecture hall but it got so little use.

I know hammerskjold even has a lecture hall. I think the floor plan needs a little touching up too. also there is over 1000 students at Hillcrest and Hammerskjold rejects students because they are overflowing with students. so i don't know what the school board is thinking... if we have any growth within the next 20 years we wont have space for students.

[vid]

It is an improvement, though. They wanted to put the school for the NE zone by the university.

I didn't take a good look at the plans but you're right, they are flawed. It's still better than Hillcrest, though. That has 16 different levels, all accessible by stairs. I think only 4 classrooms are wheel chair accessible?

I haven't been updating TBDevelopments but will resume soon. I got an email development update from JMehagan the other day:

I haven't submitted one of these in a while.

Shindico has fully leased their planned development at the corner of the Harbour Expressway and Fort William Road. Tenants include The Brick, Bank of Montreal, and Swiss Chalet. The development is called Harbour Crossing.
The website: http://www.shindico.com/properties/f...urCrossing.htm

Sherwood Gardens continues to be developed. A new crescent is plotted out to be built, I suspect, this summer. The land behind Woodcrest School is also being cleared for new development.

River Terrace construction continues as well but I don't believe that any new roads are being built this year.

The workshop at LU is completed.

The Pool at the LU Fieldhouse is to be renovated

The new Marostica dealership looks to be completed

Shoppers on Memorial is completed

The second phase of condos at Pine Crest is under construction

Shoppers on East Arthur at the McKellar site is under construction now

As for now I think Thunder Bay Gymnastics has suspended the construction of their own building as they are leasing a building on Alloy Drive (I believe)

A correctional facility for young offenders is under construction at the Thunder Bay Correctional Centre on Highway 61

The Carrick Street extension has been shelved and replaced by the Off Leash Dog Park

Construction is underway on the expansion at St. Ignatius Highschool

The site for the Courtyard - Marriot hotel is currently being prepared for construction

The sculpture at the entrance of the Airport is to be relocated in May to either the Terry Fox monument or Chippewa Park

These are the ones I have found in my latest journeys around the city in preparation for adding to my own website.

Take it easy,
F. Lionel

Housing starts and building permits are both down, so this year might be slower than last. Several large projects are also schedules to wrap up this year.