Federal program aims to update aging city infrastructure

THUNDER BAY -- There is potential to update aging infrastructure in the city with a new federal renewal program announced in last week’s budget.

The Canada 150 Community Infrastructure Program is a fund to be used to rehabilitate existing heritage buildings like legions, arenas and other meeting halls.

The fund is also part of the federal government’s celebration of the country’s 150 birthday.

“We thought a fund that would address local community assets where people would typically go to celebrate Canada’s 150th birthday could be refurbished, expanded or renovated,” said MP Greg Rickford (Cons., Kenora) Friday at the Airlane Hotel.

The details of the trust have yet to be revealed, but it will be implemented through FedNor.

“We believe this helps to fortify some of the local community assets some of the people have come to identify their community with and spend a great deal of time in for various recreational activities,” said Rickford.

While the trust is for existing facilities, at-large Coun. Frank Pullia said it could be used for the Fort William Gardens if the proposed event centre ends up not being an viable option for Thunder Bay.

But there are plenty of ideas the community could bring forward to be considered under 150 fund.

“We have, as a city, all kinds of aging infrastructure including places like the conservatory we know we want to fix. We’ll go back as a council and start looking at where we can identify priorities for Thunder Bay and have those ready so we can work closely with the federal government,” Pullia said.

In terms of the event centre, Rickford said the convention centre portion remains an opportunity that could be funded by the federal gas tax fund, but the fate of the project is up to the city.

If the city were to consider a standalone convention centre in the future, Pullia said depending how their options work out, they can look at refurbishing some existing buildings that could work for that purpose.

“There are all kinds of possibilities. It’s not just about the event centre. It’s about the rest of the infrastructure in Thunder Bay,” he said.