THUNDER BAY -- The city now knows what its waterfront might look like in 2035.
Council voted Monday to approve its waterfront master plan update that includes lands around Pool 6 and will completely reinvent the festival ground at Prince Arthur's Landing.
While that plan also recommended that the tug boat basin not be used as a marina, council voted to send that idea back to administration.
Around nine sites and a dozen scenarios were looked at for where the city could put a full service marina.
Options could range from Pool 2 in the North to Pool 6 in the south ranging from $33,000 to $90,000 per boat slip. Originally the plan was to put 300 slips in the tugboat basin until an archaeological study pointed out two features underwater that might have to be moved in order for that location to go ahead. It's why consultants weren't recommending the basin as an option. Coun. Iain Angus said something needs to be done.
"We have really over-promised and under-delivered when it comes to the boating community," Angus said.
Administration will also look at private options to get more boats on the waterfront.
Eventually the waterfront plan could see a nordic spa, a new administration building and a three-hilled trail network connected by bridges that includes a BMX pump track. All told, the plan could cost up to $47 million.
For now though, the city is focusing on a new parking lot south of Pearl Street, expanding its trial network around Pool 6 and going ahead with its new festival ground. That estimated $6 million, with a 30 per cent contingency, piece of the plan would see the band shell relocated to the North side of the grounds near the playground.
It would also feature a number of infrastructure upgrades that consultants say will make current events like Canada even better but could also help the city attract bigger acts for bigger festivals.
Coun. Rebecca Johnson said this doesn't mean the city will start spending millions starting next year. Everything in the plan is subject to finding funding sources and future council approvals.
"At least we have a plan of where we're going in the future," she said.
Coun. Linda Ryhdolm raised concerns about costs to clean up lands around Pool 6 saying a past report told the city it could cost up to $20 million in environmental remediation.
Brook McIlroy principal architect Cal Brook said if the city wanted to build houses costs could climb quickly. But the plan is to use the space for things that won't trigger bigger clean-up costs. It could be as simple as putting an extra metre of soil on the land and grading it. Using certain vegetation or building in specific areas are also options.
"These are really inexpensive solutions," he said.
