The cold didn’t keep people from celebrating the opening of Prince Arthur’s Landing.
Thousands of people flocked to the waterfront Friday evening to take in the recently completed first phase of the project, which saw more than $60 million spent.
Former waterfront project manager Catherine Dugmore, who stepped down after being diagnosed with cancer, was all smiles in the Baggage Building Friday evening and said the development is better than she imagined.
“It’s really a gratifying thing to see how people are visualizing themselves and acting in the spaces that have been created,” Dugmore said. “This is actually better than what it is on paper… it really is better than what we anticipated it to be.”
Lynn Peterson, who was mayor during most of the waterfront development, agreed. While watching the five-year project grow through planning, Peterson said it’s awesome to see the end result.
“This has been quite an adventure for the entire community but I think it was well worth every step of the way. It’s beautiful,” Peterson said. ““When I look down here and I watch the people actually skating on the rink that we had envisioned or walking on the paths that so much time and effort and thought went into… just seeing people enjoy it is really great.”
Kohl Johnson, 8, hit the ice after taking in the sites and having his fill of free hot chocolate. He said the skating rink was bigger than most outdoor rinks he’s seen.
“It looks pretty good,” he said.
Nine-year-old Michael Simkanin said he’d been having fun since he stepped onto the ice, which was full of skaters of all ages.
“And I can see the other kids are having fun (too),” he said.
Artwork was on display at the waterfront as well. Checking out the controversial beacons, Trisha Bingham said she changed her mind on the $904,000 display once she saw them.
“I didn’t think they were a good idea but now they’re nice,” she said.
Betty Myros said she loved looking at all of the art on display throughout the park but the beacons were gorgeous.
“I think they’re beautiful and they add to the park,” she said.
Myros is looking forward to seeing the park in the summer as well and calls the new park a great improvement over the old one.
“There wasn’t a lot here. There wasn’t a lot to offer people to come down here and now I think it’s going to be a very busy park,” she said.
Coun. Mark Bentz, who chairs the waterfront development committee hopes that’s the case. Betnz said the people at the park, which according to city counts was over 4,000 around 8 p.m., and the activities on display Friday evening are just the beginning. And the look and feel of the park set new standard for Thunder Bay.
“The people that are showing up here this evening it’s hard not to be impressed with the quality of workmanship and the quality of the art,” he said. “It’s just a wonderful place to be and I think it sets a really good tone for the future of Thunder Bay.”
