Dear sir:
It is the early 1900s and men of vision are in the area. A dam is built across the Rainy River to harness its power. Using winches, boom hoists, pulleys, block and tackle, and other modern tools of the era, the five-year project is completed in 1909.
Within three years, a bridge is built connecting the communities of Fort Frances and International Falls, and is open to the traffic in 1912.
Paper mills are built on both sides of the river and buildings of commerce are appearing. The population is growing, and it is an area of promise and prosperity.
The year is 2001. Men of vision have not been in the area since the building of the Noden Causeway and the Baudette-Rainy River bridge 40 years ago. The old dam still does its job harnessing the power of the river. But the old 1912 bridge, unable to handle the modern-day traffic, has been turned into a gold mine and tourists line up in the hot summer days for hours to get a crack at it.
The paper mills are three times as big and are still the area’s major employers. However, due to automation and technology, they no longer employ the masses that they once did, and the young people must leave the area to find jobs.
Many of the buildings of commerce are gone and in their place are vacant lots and parking lots. The population is on the decline and the promise of prosperity is not what it once was.
Tourism, as a secondary industry, has been available for decades and could be part of the answer to the future economy in this area. However, if we continue to turn our downtown area into an industrial zone, and continue to funnel the tourists through an ugly hole-in-the-wall bottleneck entrance to our town after they have had to wait in line in the summer heat, they will continue to skedaddle through this area as quickly as possible as they have done so in the past.
Our politicians and officials from far and near tell us it will take 10 years to build a new safe modern bridge. Political hogwash–they know it, I know it, and you should know it. One-horse towns are becoming obsolete, please let’s get the blinders off and get some vision.
Then again, who knows. Maybe we will get lucky when the World Health Organization shows up in Fort Frances for their May, 2002 conference and someone will make a mistake and show them the old bridge and they will condemn it as a health hazard and we will get a new one.
Respectfully,
Ron MacGregor
Fort Frances Times
Local News from Across the Rainy River District
