Duane Hicks
Town council will decide once and for all whether to go ahead with Phase II of the Heritage Tourism project, which includes the refurbishment and relocating of the Hallett and lookout tower to the La Verendrye Parkway, at Monday’s regular council meeting.
At a budget meeting yesterday, Community Services manager George Bell said the price for the tender with Tom Jones Construction has been negotiated down $98,606 to the budgeted amount of $1,063,394.
But members of council still had strong opinions about the project, particularly the lookout tower.
Coun. Ken Perry said he is “being cursed at daily” regarding the proposed relocation of the tower.
“People are irate about that tower,” he remarked.
Coun. John Albanese said he doesn’t believe the project will help boost tourism. He recalled when he was the Chamber of Commerce president in 1984-85, the town tried everything to attract tourists but nothing ever worked.
“To me, we’re wasting taxpayers’ money to move the Hallett and to move the tower. Sorry, I cannot support it,” he remarked. “At this time, the way the economy is—[the Hallett] looks so beautiful where she sits right now—we should leave it where it is, and save us some money.”
Mayor Roy Avis said he still is against the tower relocation.
But not everyone agreed.
“I don’t think people understand the total concept. The tower isn’t just going to be picked up and moved, and still be an ugly piece of junk sitting at the waterfront. It’s going to be completely refurbished,” Coun. Rick Wiedenhoeft noted. “It’s going to be an attraction. I think people are going to want to up there. I think kids are going to want to go up there and look around. I feel that it, more so than the Hallett, is going to attract people to the waterfront.”
Coun. Andrew Hallikas agreed, saying visitors will be able to see the tower from the bridge, and if anything, children will be asking their parents to stop on the waterfront and check it out after they cross the border here.
Coun. Paul Ryan said the town has assets—the tower and Hallett—sitting on property that is being legally contested and that property may end up belonging to someone else. Now is the town’s chance to move them, using government grant money, and put them in a location to be a tourist attraction.
“We have a paper industry right now that’s in terrible trouble, and if things don’t straighten out, we may have to focus more in this town on tourism than ever before,” he added.
Coun. Sharon Tibbs said the project ties into Phase I, which saw the museum renovated, and this component will complete the project, which will help stimulate tourism and the economy.
Like Coun. Ryan, she said the Hallett and tower may have to end up being moved anyway, so why not do it now as part of a primarily government-funded initiative.
As previously reported, this is part of the $1.459 million Phase II of the Heritage Tourism Project, which also includes a riverfront deck with viewfinders, a playground development, landscaping, signage, interpretive panels, and wayfinding connecting the downtown core to the La Verendrye Parkway (Front Street).
The town’s share of the project is about $293,500, with the rest being paid for through federal and provincial grants and local partners (i.e., the BIA and Chamber of Commerce).
Library project
Also at Monday evening’s meeting, council will decide its next steps in regards to interacting with the library board to find a compromise in building a new library and technology centre here.
At yesterday’s budget meeting, Brian Avis, project manager for the proposed Fort Frances Public Library and Technology Centre, gave a report to council on his observations as to what must be done to move forward at this time.
He noted council must work closely with the library board and determine compromises on the municipal contribution and compromises on the building, while maintaining functionality, to get the project back on track as soon as possible.
After a lengthy discussion by council regarding their concerns over the size of the building and how much it could be altered without affecting functionality, whether the new building can be operated at a cost the town will be able to afford, and how much the town should contribute.
Coun. Hallikas observed both the library board and council are equally committed to trying to find a solution to the issue, but each are coming at it from a different point-of-view. The problem is they’re doing it separately.
“I really think somehow the two groups need to get together and share with each other. That’s how you get a compromise going,” he remarked. “If everyone is hearing from everybody else, that’s when compromise gets started.
“By the way, I am not suggesting a new committee be formed. I am just suggesting the bodies get together and share some dialogue, try to find some common ground and go ahead from there,” added Coun. Hallikas.
Coun. Perry agreed, saying he would like to see a meeting of the entire library board, mayor and council and administration. “Let’s get it on the table,” he noted, adding he would like to a see a resolution come out of that meeting which states once and for all how much money the town will contribute and what the square footage must be.
Superintendent of Planning and Development Rick Hallam advised the project architect should be present to provide his expertise.
“I think we’re getting soft, just like my pillow. Either we stand and say one thing, or we go ahead and build this library. What are you doing, guys? Are you going to soften up and say, ‘Let’s build a library,’ or are you going to get worried about the economic impact of what we’ve got in front of us, what that will create for the long-term?” charged Coun. Albanese.
“It’s not getting soft. But maybe we can sit down, get our point across in a manner where they’ll accept less (than $1.5 million),” Mayor Avis said. “We can’t let them hang . . . I think we owe it to them to at least sit down at a table with them and say, ‘Here’s what we’ll do.’”
Coun. Albanese said he still opposes the project, as do most of the people he’s talked to, who do not want the town to go ahead with it because of state of the economy.
He added council has been chastised in the media for delaying the project, but they are not to blame. “We told the library (board) exactly, last year before we struck the budget, how much was available and what the project should cost. The tenders came in—they came in way over it. It was not the council’s fault-we get blamed for everything,” noted Coun. Albanese.
Among other concerns, Coun. Ryan expressed doubts about whether they’re building the library for the present generation or the future, adding that by the time the town were to pay off its long-term debt in 20 years, he felt rapidly advancing technology would have made libraries obsolete.
Coun. Tibbs said that with the recent news about AbitibiBowater and the overall “economic crunch,” she would not support building a new library if it meant spending more than the $592,000 the town already has agreed to.
In related news, the town will apply for funding for the library from the Building Canada fund (communities component).
Administration and management also will look into applying to the Building Canada fund, under the major infrastructure component, for money to reconstruct one or more of the following roads: Fifth Street, Front Street and Second Street.
These applications must be made May 1. It is expected they will hear whether the applications were successful or not within about two weeks after that.
