Northern Ontario developments!

[vid]

There is now about 9,000 families on that side of the expressway, and another 9,000 people on the other side of it, closer to County Fair than Intercity. They probably shopped at the main Walmart most of the time and have switched because it is closer. I have noticed that with just one extra Walmart so far, the current one is much more capable of handling customer load.

That was their plan though: Open up more Walmarts to relieve the logistical issues at the current Walmart. It's one of the country's busiest; it won't be any more, but in a way that's a good thing. I have simply walked out of Walmart dozens of times without buying anything due to a combination of high prices (it's actually more expensive than Superstore for virtually everything, especially food) and really long line-ups. The local company I work for also has a lot of bad issues dealing with Walmart so I have been trying to not shop there anymore, but there are a couple things that I seem to be able to only find there.

It's good to hear they're going to keep the library in County Fair, too. Considering how fast that area is growing, the death of County Fair Mall was really just an example of bad management. A mall in a neighbourhood that vital shouldn't be in that condition.

[TbayON]

Originally Posted by vid

It's good to hear they're going to keep the library in County Fair, too. Considering how fast that area is growing, the death of County Fair Mall was really just an example of bad management. A mall in a neighbourhood that vital shouldn't be in that condition.

Now let's just hope the city can work something out with the new owner that can get the library out of the back corner of the mall. I would bet quite a few people in Thunder Bay, especially those that don't live in the immediate area of County Fair, have no idea where or even that a branch of the TBPL exists there. Does the city lease the space of the library though, or is it their property?

The news the buyer is also going to tear down the old lumber yard is welcome news too. It has become a bit of an eyesore there over the years.

[vid]

They lease. I remember there being uncertainty about their lease during the last deal, which is why they started talking about building a new branch in the area.

[toaster]

Originally Posted by vid

That was their plan though: Open up more Walmarts to relieve the logistical issues at the current Walmart. It's one of the country's busiest; it won't be any more, but in a way that's a good thing.

I'm curious to know where you received that information? I say this because I think everyone at some point or another standing in line for 30 minutes believes their own WalMart must be the busiest in the world, but logically you can't make such statements without some sort of data. Is it based on sales? Based on number of people who enter the store? Is this data available to the public? Surely hearing this from a store employees would not be taken as a legitimate source.

[vid]

According to someone my boss knows at the Chamber of Commerce, it is one of only a handful of Walmarts in Canada that pulls in over $1 billion in revenue annually. Most of them are in the mid to high hundreds of millions.

It might not be true, but considering the size of our market and the lack of competition from other department stores I honestly wouldn't be surprised.

[Dwils01]

The old Days Inn before the reclading

Source: http://www.eachtown.com/Michigan/Cit...46/hotels.html

After the reclading it's now a Holiday Inn Express




Pictures by me.

The Days Inn moved to Queen Street on the old Diplomat Motel site.

Source: http://www.saulttourism.com/where-to...px?listing=145

[Dwils01]

An update on the demolition of St. Mary's Paper in Sault Ste. Marie
Before:


Currently


















One of only a few buildings to be saved


All pictures by me.

[TbayON]

DFC High School is progressing well towards their goal of developing a student residence for their Thunder Bay school. The preferred location for the approximately $15 million, 150 bed building is at Confederation College. The Wasaya Group is taking charge of the construction and fundraising for the building. Dowland Contracting will probably be building the place through their partnership with Wasaya. An optimistic completion date of 2014 has been given if construction begins this coming spring.

Another Dollarama is on its way to Thunder Bay. This time it will be going into the former Shoppers location in the Centennial Square area. I believe that it fronts on to McKellar, but correct me if I am wrong. Another new Dollarama is already in the development stages between Chapters and Petsmart in Intercity where Bouclair Home used to be. I wouldn't be at all surprised if they try and jump into County Fair Mall now that new ownership is in place. They seem to like following Wal-Mart around and can quite readily compete despite astronomical differences in store sizes between the two chains.

I took a look at the site plan for the next phase of the CEISS development on Lillie St. The existing Hogarth-Riverview Manor is going to be completed renovated once the 7 storey long term care building is complete. In addition, a new 18 bed wing will be added to the existing Hogarth Manor along Lillie St. I had not realized both of these items were included in the CEISS development.

The footings are just about complete at the new Marriott TowneSuites hotel at the Harbour Expressway and Carrick. Some strip footings will be poured soon before the building really starts going up.

Things are still progressing really slowly at 'The Club' condos at Thunder Bay Country Club. Some material has been delivered to the site though and some work is still going on.

The new restaurant (Bight) is opening at the waterfront today. The concession is also either opening or already open as well.

[vid]

The Shoppers in Centennial Square fronted onto the square, but it has a rear door. I don't think Shoppers used it for the last few years they were there, though.

[greyraven8]

Originally Posted by vid

The Shoppers in Centennial Square fronted onto the square, but it has a rear door. I don't think Shoppers used it for the last few years they were there, though.

Towards the end Shoppers had the back doors open but at limited times. Locked and closed the back doors at around 8pm on weekdays (don't remember about weekends - probably locked up earlier or all the time then).

Also had receiving doors at back and I think a door for Canada post deliveries.

[TbayON]

A petition is being presented to city council at their Monday night meeting concerning lands adjacent to the LPH building. The signatories to the petition want the greenspace next to the LPH protected from development as they fear without zoning changes, development will occur there eventually.

A new local start-up company is looking for support from city hall. Digestic Corp. wants to construct a pilot plant in the city for creating biogas from organic wastes. The company says it will help reduce the volume of waste being processed by the city at the landfill site. All they are looking for is a letter of support from the city to strengthen their application to the province under the renewable energy program. It seems like an interesting project/proposal, I just hope its economically viable.

[tjernobyl]

Originally Posted by TbayON

A new local start-up company is looking for support from city hall. Digestic Corp. wants to construct a pilot plant in the city for creating biogas from organic wastes. The company says it will help reduce the volume of waste being processed by the city at the landfill site. All they are looking for is a letter of support from the city to strengthen their application to the province under the renewable energy program. It seems like an interesting project/proposal, I just hope its economically viable.

Two tons of input a day to run a 100kW generator; mostly food waste from grocery stores and restaurants. Plant on Alloy Drive; no odour expected. By my math, they're running on a pretty thin margin, but if they plan to manufacture systems for sale elsewhere, it might be viable.

[TbayON]

Aquatech, an outfit specializing in dewatering and pumping equipment for the mining industry principally and other industries, is setting up shop in Thunder Bay. I'm not sure if they have acquired a location yet or not, but I would bet they will locate in the intercity area. Aquatech is based out of Sudbury, and is also expanding to Timmins. The potential for 25 jobs comes with their Thunder Bay expansion.

The federal government, under the Public Works Dept., is looking to lease large warehouse space in Thunder Bay. They are looking for a ten year deal. I have no idea what it is for, but I was surprised to see the ad given government restraint occurring at the moment to deal with deficits. Or did their lease just expire where they were and they need to move somewhere new?

A new restaurant is coming to town. Lone Star Texas Grill will be opening up a Thunder Bay location. It is a southern Ontario-based company and the Thunder Bay restaurant will be the first one outside of southern Ontario I believe. I am not sure where they are going to locate in the city though. They are currently hiring their management team.

The former Armando's Restaurant in downtown P.A. will be re-opening as a new restaurant. It is going to be called Silver Birch. I am not sure when it is scheduled to open but work is on-going at the building right now.

The airport has received some provincial cash to help expand taxi-ways and open up additional lots for development near the Ornge and Pilatus hangars. The money will also go towards extending the road that services the lots. The airport authority believes 270 jobs could be created should the lots be developed.
http://www.tbnewswatch.com/news/2526...ansion-dollars

[Zach6668]

Hmmm... Lone Star is from Ottawa, I'm fairly certain... it's alright. There's one a block from me that I never go to... maybe once a year. Nothing super special... not a lot to differentiate it from Montana's/Kelsey's/Applebees, although since it'll be new, they'll likely do well in T-Bay, for a while, anyways.

[toaster]

Originally Posted by Zach6668

Hmmm... Lone Star is from Ottawa, I'm fairly certain... it's alright. There's one a block from me that I never go to... maybe once a year. Nothing super special... not a lot to differentiate it from Montana's/Kelsey's/Applebees, although since it'll be new, they'll likely do well in T-Bay, for a while, anyways.

You always get free tortilla chips and salsa dip to start. I always found the St. Laurent location was better than the Market location (in Ottawa).

In other news, the new space agency in Timmins (at the Timmins Airport) is under construction. It is a joint program between the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) and France’s Centre National d’etudes Spatiales (CNES).

[TbayON]

Heavy equipment has been brought in and fencing placed around the former lumber yard at County Fair. I assume this means the sale of the mall has went through, and the lumber yard will be torn down soon. The vehicle auction that was located in the former lumber yard has already moved to a new location.

Some excavation and ground work was done in the past week and a half at the former Husky location on Arthur St. near the Expressway and in front of the Choice brand hotel. I am not sure if it was just work that Husky was responsible to perform to rehabilitate the site or if the land will be going up for sale or what the deal is there.

[vid]

The Husky in front of the Choice Brand Hotel? Where is that?

And there was a vehicle auction in the Beaver Lumber building? What?

[TbayON]

Originally Posted by vid

The Husky in front of the Choice Brand Hotel? Where is that?

Right in front of the Comfort Inn on Arthur St across from the Best Western Crossroads almost. It closed down 2 or 3 years ago probably, just a little while after the Mohawk station at James and Arthur was closed (which was also a Husky brand gas station). The now empty lot it occupied is highlighted yellow below:

Originally Posted by vid

And there was a vehicle auction in the Beaver Lumber building? What?

Yes there was. You pretty well had to drive right up to the building to see that there was something there. There was only a small sign on a gate facing towards County Fair Mall if I remember correctly indicating something to do with car auctions. I only noticed it when a business I frequent moved in next door in another building. Otherwise, I would have had no idea there was anything in there myself either.

[TbayON]

Another large North American retailer is moving into Thunder Bay. Maurices has placed a billboard in the Intercity area advertising jobs that need to be filled. I'm not sure where they will be locating their store, but I would guess Intercity Mall or in the Thunder Centre.

[vid]

Judging by Google Image Search's results of their store locations, it's going to be in the mall. I would guess the former Urban Behaviour location?