Murals may be tourist drawing card

Could murals painted on the sides of buildings help draw tourists to this area?
That’s something a local group is looking at in conjunction with a plan to divert east/west traffic off the Trans-Canada Highway and through Rainy River District.
Rainy River Mayor Gord Armstrong, who’s spearheading the push to bring traffic along the southern route of Northwestern Ontario via Baudette and Warroad, Mn. and Steinbach, Man., said the murals would be a common theme that district municipalities could promote.
A study contracted out by the Town of Rainy River showed traffic along the Trans-Canada Highway (Highway 17) between Kenora and Dryden jumps by about 3,000 vehicles daily in the summer.
By contrast, east/west traffic moving through the district on Highway 11/71 doesn’t change much between the summer and winter months.
“We want to see if we can bring at least five or 10 percent of the traffic travelling across Canada to the area,” said Mayor Armstrong, stressing that would have a huge impact on the local economy.
At a meeting Saturday, the ball started rolling to get murals in Fort Frances. Reps from the Rainy River Future Development Corp., local Business Improvement Area, Chamber of Commerce, and Mayor Glenn Witherspoon met with Pippi Johnson from Lake of the Woods Heritage Townscapes, who co-ordinated 12 mural projects in Kenora.
Johnson brought with her portfolios of artists they had used there, and shared advice on what to do and what not to do.
“She probably gave us a good six months’ of free advice,” noted Julian Morelli, the BIA’s promotions chairman, who noted Abitibi-Consolidated already said they could put a mural on the lap building so tourists would see it as they crossed the border here.