Fort Frances will be doing away with a bylaw more than 35 years old and it’s an odd one – since November of 1989 the Town has required all municipal buildings to follow a colour code.
Town buildings have been technically required to choose from a somewhat dated-sounding palette: Fusain Charcoal, Banker’s Grey, Silver Lining and Shibul Black paired with bright red doors. The combination seems to land somewhere between a gothic teenager’s daydream and the cliché choice of a divorced dad’s fixer-upper sports car.
Council voted unanimously to repeal the bylaw, likely because the town has not kept up with its arbitrary demands. Case in point is the refreshed water tower, which is chiefly blue and white with a reimagined town mascot.
Like the times, and the town mascot, tastes have changed. Municipal buildings likely need a facelift to modernize appeal to the public and the mandatory aesthetic of garish red doors likely isn’t giving the impression Fort Frances wants to give to locals and tourists alike.
