With a final report expected from Winnipeg-based consultants Hilderman, Thomas, Frank and Cram (HTFC) next month, the “Re-Inventing Fort Frances” committee is giving the public a final chance at an open house here tomorrow to offer input on plans aimed at re-vitalizing the area with tourism and commerce.
“This will be our final open house,” committee chair Susan Bodnarchuk said this morning, adding she hopes this one—which runs from 4-8 p.m. at La Place Rendez-Vous—will see as much public response as the first one held Nov. 6.
“The final report is coming out soon, but there’s still time to get comments from the public and take them into consideration,” Bodnarchuk noted.
“Whether the comment is, ‘That looks good,’ or ‘I think you need this,’ we want to know,” she stressed. “The more people we get out, the more comments we get.”
The open house in November drew more than 100 people.
Bodnarchuk said tomorrow’s open house will feature a wealth of diagrams and charts, including some new information which has been taken into consideration from public and stakeholder input gathered since the first one.
“And we’ll have our consultant, Jeff Frank, as well as some of our committee members out to participate and answer questions,” she added.
HTFC, which began its study in August, has been gathering data about everything from traffic flow to land use to what residents and businesses feel the town needs to bolster its tourism and commercial potential.
Since then, some of the group’s plans have been revealed, including a mural on the “lap” building with a fur trade and fort theme, signage, and landscaping—including medians with planters—at this end of the international bridge.
Down the road, the plans detail an extensive overhaul of the 200 block of Church Street, which is estimated to cost $5.5-million.
This would include realigning the road, a forest display for a “visual buffer” beside the mill, a lake sculpture diorama, reopening the tourist centre at a new location incorporating an Ontario Visitor Centre and Canada Discovery Centre (adding attractions to it in the process), provide more parking for tourists, and create a direct walking link to the downtown area.
These projects, like the current feasibility study which has cost about $110,000, would require funding from the town, the province, and the federal government to succeed.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
