As throngs of people who watched the boats launch at Sand Bay this morning already know, the town re-opened the government dock at Pither’s Point to pedestrian traffic today.
Back in late April, the Town of Fort Frances had closed the dock and strictly forbade swimmers to use it because of concern over its structural integrity.
But Operations and Facilities manager Doug Brown said yesterday that an engineering report on the dock has been completed, and the town has decided to re-open the dock to foot traffic.
That includes spectators for the boat launch, swimmers, people fishing, or those simply wanting to take an evening stroll.
“We got the information from the engineers and it can support foot traffic,” Brown noted. “But no vehicles are allowed on it. We’re going to keep the concrete barriers up.
“We don’t want anyone parking their boats there, either,” he added.
“The dock’s very weak in the lateral direction, and when you put a boat there and there’s a heavy wind, you could put more stress on the dock and cause it to slide more,” he explained.
Brown clarified the portion of dock in question is the 16-foot wide, 450-foot long dock and not the smaller “crib dock” section, which the public can dock boats at if they so choose.
While the town re-opened the dock to foot traffic just in time for the Fort Frances Canadian Bass Championship, Brown said it will remain open indefinitely after that—or until the town decides what to do with it.
While he hasn’t seen the full report yet, Brown said he does know it recommends some rehabilitation work to the dock. But he doesn’t know other details, like the estimated cost of this work, at this time.
The full report will be submitted to council in the coming weeks, at which time they’ll have to decide whether the town can afford to fix it or whether there’s even a will to do so.
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
