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Developed waterfront seeing ‘record’ attendance this winter

Just on numbers alone, the residents of Thunder Bay seem to be telling city management they are happy with the development of the city’s waterfront.
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(tbnewswatch.com)

Just on numbers alone, the residents of Thunder Bay seem to be telling city management they are happy with the development of the city’s waterfront.

The last day of Christmas break saw 800 people use the outdoor skating rink at Port Arthur's Landing, and On Super Bowl Sunday more than 1,000 people used the ice.

“That’s remarkable. That’s a record for us,” said Greg Alexander, manager of community and emergency services for the City of Thunder Bay.

“We know the community is really enjoying the facilities that are down there,” he added. “The amount of use down at the waterfront has been amazing.”

Alexander cited the warmer weather and the fact that the rink was a new feature for possible reasons why people are flocking to it in such large volumes.

People have commented to him that it's just a “beautiful place to be” and that “there's no other place like it” in Thunder Bay.

A report will be presented to council Monday evening on an interim plan for the waterfront while the city waits for construction to be completed by private sector developers.

“We have a plan in place to use a team in city departments to make sure all our new facilities are kept up to standard and operated to the best of their ability,” Alexander said.

The operating budget for 2012 is about $600,000 and Alexander said they expect to use the interim management model for at least two years.

“Hopefully by the end of that time, we can take to a hotelier and condominium association and form some sort of consortium that will figure out how the whole cycle will work,” he said.

There should be information released soon on the private development, Alexander said, noting the process is currently in the hands of the lawyers and developers.

 

Follow Jodi Lundmark on Twitter: @JodiL_reporter





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