Prince Arthur’s Landing is a vision come to life for former Thunder Bay mayor Lynn Peterson.
“This is a vision that came about through the community, through the public, through the waterfront development committee,” Peterson said Friday at the formal celebration for the completion of phase one of the development of Prince Arthur’s Landing.
“This is the culmination of a lot of people’s work for a long time and a lot of dedication and a lot of tenacity was required through the process to get us here today.”
Peterson was mayor of the city during the planning stages of the development and was one of the driving forces behind the project. Current city mayor Keith Hobbs acknowledged her work during the ceremony Friday afternoon.
And Peterson felt a sense of accomplishment as she looked around the park.
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“It’s got a spirit to it that reflects the city of Thunder Bay and the citizens,” she said. “It’s a place I love and I think most people do.”
Peterson said she came with her grandchildren to the splash pad the other day and was surprised to see not just kids enjoying the water, but also senior members of the community.
“It was awesome. Every generation was here and every generation was enjoying it,” she said.
“That’s what this was meant to be.”
Also elated at the finished product was waterfront project manager Katherine Dugmore.
“It couldn’t feel better than this,” she said, adding she felt an intense satisfaction.
“We’ve always said this project is incredibly complex. When you see the subtlety, the elegance of the detailing, the interpretation, the art, the rich detail of the project is just astounding.”
Having worked in design for many years, Dugmore said usually projects don’t always live up to expectations, but Prince Arthur’s Landing exceeded them.
The second stage of phase one is the private development of condominiums and a hotel. The private developers are in the midst of selling the condos and once they’ve sold enough, Dugmore said they will begin work on the underground parking structure for both the condos and hotel.
She said work could start on that as early as later this year.
Dugmore will be presenting a report to council in late summer or early fall on Phase two of the waterfront development, which includes plans for a new marina in the Pool 6 area.
Prince Arthur’s Landing cost a total of $58 million, with more than $15 million each coming from the provincial and federal governments. The rest was provided by the City of Thunder Bay.
MP Peter Van Loan (Con., York-Simcoe) attended the celebration on behalf of the Ministry of Transport, Infrastructure and Communities and said revitalization projects like Prince Arthur’s Landing improve quality of life, which is important in making communities more attractive.
Thunder Bay’s new waterfront is a promising foot forward, he said.
“Thunder Bay here has done a very brilliant job of combing not only the broader natural environment of being in Northern Ontario and on the Great Lakes but also having an urban environment here to combine with a downtown that’s hopefully going to see further revitalization,” Van Loan said.
