Thunder Bay Transit revamps Fort William Road headquarters

The city’s newly renovated Thunder Bay Transit headquarters is officially open for business.

The $1.9-million transformation was completed earlier this year and celebrated on Wednesday afternoon at a ceremony marking the occasion.

The festivities included the unveiling of a plaque honouring Sydney L. Bishop, the longtime Transit staffer who oversaw the merging of two distinct operations and oversaw the beginning of construction of the present-day Fort William Road facility.

Son William Bishop was on hand and said it was fantastic his father’s memory is being kept alive to this day, more than four decades after the building first opened.

“I’m glad to see my dad’s recognized after all these years,” Bishop said. “My memories go back a long way, when I was just a young child and he was working for what was known then as the Fort William Street Railway.

“They were just starting to bring in gas buses and then electrified trolley buses and finally up into the diesel operations. It’s been a long time and he worked hard at it.”

The latest renovations were a long time coming, said Brad Loroff, who heads Thunder Bay Transit.

The main reason behind the plan was the integration of the city’s specialized transit fleet, Lift+, formerly known as Hagi Transit.

It also allowed for updates to the aging facility, expanding bus operator amenities, more green space and training areas for the fleet, employees and members of the public.

Built to a clean, green and beautiful standard, the work utilized recycled building components, increased insulation, environmentally friendly paints and energy-efficient electrical and mechanical systems.

“Transit has just outgrown this space,” Loroff said. “I think the leading need to do it was the integration of what was Hagi Transit into now Lift+. That was really the driving factor that made us take a look at doing something different with the space.”