Northern Ontario developments!

[vid]

I think someone on here mentioned the Venice Grill being painted recently?

Motorcycle club. They fancy themselves a chapter of the Hells Angels, but... they're not. These are the same guys that were down by Superior Taxi last summer.

[TbayON]

I have heard that the East Fort William Prosvita will be closing, and the building will subsequently be demolished. Apparently when an adjacent building was removed, it was found the Prosvita had irreparable structural issues, and has since been condemned by the city. Sad to see another piece of history go, but another step closer to total revitalization of the Simpson corridor.

The concession at Boulevard Lake is going to be renovated this summer. It is currently out to tender. Re-roofing, exterior and interior reno's will be undertaken. The city has also put out a tender for some kind of improvements to the Heart of the Harbour Parkade. I don't know what the scope of the work is or what is being done though.

[vid]

Originally Posted by TbayON

I have heard that the East Fort William Prosvita will be closing, and the building will subsequently be demolished. Apparently when an adjacent building was removed, it was found the Prosvita had irreparable structural issues, and has since been condemned by the city. Sad to see another piece of history go, but another step closer to total revitalization of the Simpson corridor.

I wouldn't call "we've torn down 5 buildings in the past month to make more parking lots that no one is using" revitalization. The old Ray, Street & Co. Bank at the corner of Leith and Simpson was torn down a few weeks ago for yet another Ace Auto car lot. This is his 4th car lot, most of the vehicles have been for sale for over 5 years. (I have photographic proof of them too.)

The Prosvita Building is actually two buildings, with a connector over what used to be the alleyway, and it's the rear portion and that connector that are at issue. (The building that was located beside them before Atlas Van Lines burned down, the burn marks are all over the exposed south wall of the Prosvita and the rot of that rear building is visible). It is unfortunate for them, however, that the bulk of their activity is based in that damaged part of the building. Maybe they can save the hall portion but I'm not sure how useful that will be by itself.

The Prosvita Society isn't the only organization located there, there is also a church in its basement. The building was originally the Lake Theatre.

The Atlas Van Lines site will be used for parking by the NorWest CHC.

Simpson Street's BIA is meeting tomorrow morning at 9:45, not sure about the location though. It's a very shadowy group.

Originally Posted by TbayON

The concession at Boulevard Lake is going to be renovated this summer. It is currently out to tender. Re-roofing, exterior and interior reno's will be undertaken.

Hopefully they will lower the rent to attract a decent tenant. Apparently they wanted $2,000 a month. (That is how much several of the storefronts on Simpson Street owned by Ace Auto/Lacey's Taxi cost, and the reason they're still vacant.) There is nowhere to get food at the lake, though that may have changed with the food trucks.

[TbayON]

I don't think a bunch of parking lots is revitalization either, but I do think starting with a much cleaner slate (i.e. most of the old buildings beyond repair being gone and the properties being cleared of 'liabilities') will help perhaps generate a new era for Simpson. You have eluded to a major issue though, which of course is the unwillingness of the present landlords to take much meaningful action. That will fade with time I believe. With its proximity to the intercity area and downtown south core, I think Simpson St. could be something in the future. It has a stigma now though, and it will take time for that to disappear. There are many potential uses for that corridor, from residential all the way to light industrial, or a mix of everything.

As far as the Prosvita goes, I understood that the entire building was coming down and that the EFW Prosvita was going to cease operations. I could be wrong, but this is what I understood in the few details I heard.

[tjernobyl]

Originally Posted by TbayON

Former EMS at the corner of Donald and Simpson will be some kind of treatment facility and/or shelter. The interior is pretty well being completely renovated to ready the building for this completely different use.

It will house the Joseph Esquega Health Group.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunde...odel-1.2701096

Originally Posted by TbayON

The Resolve Group is saying construction of the above ground structure of the Delta Hotel at Prince Arthur's Landing will begin in February. If we have a winter anywhere similar to the one just past, I wouldn't count on a start until March or early April. Hopefully once all this construction is complete, the city will increase its focus on maintaining Prince Arthur's Landing. I try to make most of my posts positive, but I have to admit I have been a bit disappointed walking around the park this year. Several of the new gardens are not being maintained as I would have expected them to be to keep this jewel of the city looking in prime condition. Things seem to be in disarray as far as maintaining the park goes, and the city doesn't really have that much experience keeping a place like Prince Arthur's Landing up. I think they need to look at how some other cities keep their waterfront destinations looking great.

The Friends of the Conservatory actually used the poor state of those beds as one of their arguments in one of the deputations. The maintenance on most of the greenery there is contracted out, and is not being done up to nearly the same standard as the city-maintained beds.

Originally Posted by vid

The Mac's at Arthur and Edward has permanently closed, not sure why.

With 4 other Mac's on Arthur, it may have been marginal to begin with, and considering access will be restricted by construction for most of the summer, it might not make financial sense to keep it open, at least in the near term.

Originally Posted by vid

Parkdale isn't going to grow "a bunch more", it's pretty much halfway done at this point. What you see laid out on Google Maps is as big as that neighbourhood will ever get. It's hemmed in by protected wetlands now.

The wetland was designated as Provincially Significant in 1996. I'm not sure why it took so long for Zoning to catch up. The Field Naturalists have raised concerns that the bog is draining through Parkdale to its detriment.

In other news:

Apparently, the City is buying out houses in the Tupper/Camelot/Cumberland area for construction of a parking lot. Huzzah for more empty pavement.

Open Streets ran its inaugral event on Algoma, and is generally considered to have been a success. Another event is planned for September.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunde...reds-1.2705722

The former convenience store / pet store / cafe / crummy apartments at the corner of Van Norman and Algoma have been torn down. Rumour is parking lot, but I haven't seen any evidence to corroborate that.

A&W in front of the Superstore is now open. The onion rings are a bit saltier than I remember.

[Dwils01]

Sault Ste. Marie Summer Update.
New Duty Free Shop at the new International Bridge Plaza.


Mill Square Devolpment


Mill Square Pulp Tower, will be home to the new insect museum.


Mill Square development, new home to the Algoma Conservatory of Music.


The newly completed Ermantinger Clergue Heritage Discovery Centre.


Bay and East Apartments at Bay Street and East Street.




Piles of rumble is all that's left of the old Riverview Hospital at the Riverwalk Condo site.


Riverwalk Condo's phase 1 at the old Plummer Hospital.




Riverwalk Condo's Phase 2 at the old General Hospital.




New building going up on Pim Street by Bruce Street.


New St. Mary's Catholic High School on Second Line East (Hwy 17) at Pine Street.




Pictures by me.

[Conker]

The great part about parking lots in the core areas is that they make the land cheap for developers to pickup.

Look at what happened in Toronto. Almost every open air parking lot has been scooped up and converted to condos or office buildings with underground parking. If the mining does boom Thunder Bay and the city eases the 30m or less height restrictions in the north core then these lots will vanish sooner rather than later.

In terms of the south core coming back to life, I just don't see it. As history has shown development and industry along the waterfront are what drives growth in our core areas. With the closure of almost every industry on Mckellar and Mission islands, and no industry or growth along the north bank of the Kam river the areas behind this have followed in the downward trend. If the city wants the south core to become great again, then spend money on connecting the islands. Sewer, water and gas service needs to be put on both islands and a bridge off the end of Arthur and watch the core take off again. Life of the core areas has always depended on the waterfront, thinking that we can have dense core areas while neglecting the waterfront is just plane stupid.

[Dwils01]

Sault Ste. Marie west end construction update.
New Winmar Office Building on Peoples Road at Second Line West.


New five floor Seniors Residence (site clearing stage) on North Street just north of Second Line.




Old Korah Branch Library conversion to a two floor apartment building.


Pictures by me.

[TbayON]

Industry Canada is opening a space on Alloy Dr. by Central Ave. There is a tender out now for related construction work to the building. They had advertised in recent months looking for warehouse space in Thunder Bay.

[Beedok]

So, does anyone know why there's a Conga line of ships in Tbay's harbour?

[TbayON]

Originally Posted by Beedok

So, does anyone know why there's a Conga line of ships in Tbay's harbour?

Moving grain... and tons of it. The harvest was so massive on the prairies that some ports are now having issues moving it (although T-Bay doesn't according to our Port Authority). The railroads have been mandated to move minimum quantities, so it has to go somewhere.

========

Lakehead U is in the process of building some kind of fire testing lab on the university campus. I think they have just issued a request for qualifications (aka looking for interested/able contractors). Sounds like a steel building, not sure about size though.

I have heard Options Northwest is supposed to be putting an addition onto their building. Again, no idea on size, although I have heard is isn't huge. It will be nice if it goes forwards, bring a little more construction to downtown P.A.

[Beedok]

Originally Posted by TbayON

Moving grain... and tons of it. The harvest was so massive on the prairies that some ports are now having issues moving it (although T-Bay doesn't according to our Port Authority). The railroads have been mandated to move minimum quantities, so it has to go somewhere.

Another huge crop? Well that's fairly good. (I'm not unconditional as a fear that it's a sign of global warming lingers in my mind.)

[vid]

The actual problem is that the boats are here to pick up grain that has yet to arrive, so they're stuck waiting for it to get here.

Thunder Bay's Harbour is extremely efficient in terms of getting a ship unloaded/loaded and back out onto the water (mainly because of how spread out it is, moving ships around in our harbour is significantly easier than almost any other harbour in the GLS), all these delays are being caused by the railways and the grain pools out west. The heavy rains they've been getting lately are slowing the whole process down out there, which has a ripple effect back home. It's cool to see a lot of boats in the harbour again, though.

[TbayON]

Most of the ships out in the water were Salties (went up to Hillcrest this evening given the weather). They tend to spend more time in port than do Lakers for whatever reason. There was only 1 Laker out in the bay. I did notice all the Salties were empty. Several ships were also being loaded too, so its not like all were sitting idle.

I agree Vid, I don't recall seeing that many ships out just beyond the break wall while several others are loading at same time in years. Its definitely a sign of optimism for the local port if they can continue this trend. I know some elevator workers, and they are going 'balls to the wall' and some guys are working on almost no time off things are so busy. Unfortunately, this spring's weather is boding well for another bumper crop on the prairies with all the rainy, cool weather. Still time for things to turn around though.

[TbayON]

Some pictures taken around town of a few projects on the go:

Natural Habitat Pond under development at Prince Arthur's Landing:


Vue Condos at Prince Arthur's Landing, first condo from the Pearl St. parking lot:


Vue Condos from the lake side at Prince Arthur's Landing:


Vue Condos (second unit) with the foundation for the Delta Hotel at the bottom of the picture:


Vue Condos from Water St.:


Vue Condos from Hillcrest Park:


Back side of Superior Lofts, across Water St. from Vue Condos. This building has completely sold now.:


Holiday Inn Express in the Intercity Area. Exterior finishes are being applied. Opening this fall:


New strip mall across the Harbour Expressway from the Holiday Inn. I really like the new retro A&W look, but the rest of the building is rather bland and boring to me:


CEISS building off Victoria Ave., structure is pretty well all up now:

[vid]

That A&W design is what they've been using for about 6 or 7 years now. We're one of the last markets to get it.

[newhere]

Heard from someone who should know, the condo project at the Thunder Bay Country Club is back on. Apparently the Southern Ontario company that had initiated the multi million dollar lawsuit has partnered with a local company (Finnway) to take over the project. We shall see

[TbayON]

Originally Posted by newhere

Heard from someone who should know, the condo project at the Thunder Bay Country Club is back on. Apparently the Southern Ontario company that had initiated the multi million dollar lawsuit has partnered with a local company (Finnway) to take over the project. We shall see

Good to hear if true! Finnway doesn't have a whole lot of work at the moment either, so it would benefit them.

=====

According to TBNewswatch, the P.A. Pros building is being seriously considered for another use. TBNewswatch is saying Wacky Wings is looking at moving into the building (I guess they are serious about that... hard to tell on the little post they made about it). Anyhow, there is a committee of adjustment sign posted at the facility to alter zoning.

[Conker]

The Lakehead U fire lab is a 25'x40' building 25' tall and is located along Oliver road west of the engineering garage at the end of the parking lot next to the river.

Basically a steel box with a garage door and an afterburner outside the structure.

[TbayON]

FWFN's new residential subdivision is finally getting closer to fruition. They have issued a tender for servicing for 21 lots to be located on reserve land. FWFN has also recently started construction on major improvements to their pow-wow grounds. I believe construction of some kind of structure is to occur with this project.