Burk's Falls has started a sign project to showcase its history and points of interest with words and images.
The Wayfinding Signage project refers to “finding your way and exploring,” explains Lacey Stevens, the village's recreation co-ordinator.
Four of the planned 12 signs have already been made. Burk's Falls is paying $12,000 of the total cost, with the remainder coming from the province's Rural Economic Development program.
The idea for the project came from the downtown waterfront revitalization master plan project Burk's Falls undertook in 2018. The village's downtown development committee began working on the sign recommendation about six months ago, bringing it to council for funding.
Burk's Falls clerk Nicky Kunkel says committee members have spent months combing through historical society records looking for historical facts and images.
In addition, one of the committee members, Emily Bond, is designing the signs, which are intended to reinforce the village's history with local residents and tell visitors something about the community.
Kunkel says several signs will be erected along the Heritage River Walk Trail system.
“We'll start at the welcome centre and then go across the covered bridge and head down the Heritage River Walk Trail, which connects to Knight Brother's Park,” Kunkel says.
One of the signs, to be placed at the park, will tell the story of the Knight brothers, who established the community's lumber and fine woodworking plant, as well as a power plant which provided power to light the village.
After the park, visitors next make their way to Yonge Street and the downtown where another sign will be in place pointing to the New Almaguin Manor, a seniors' residence which became a reality after the former M.A. Wittick Public School was repurposed.
Another sign will showcase the fire loss the community suffered more than 100 years ago when dozens of businesses were destroyed. Two others will showcase First Nations history and the area's nature.
Kunkel says the signs, which vary in size but are mostly four by four feet, won't be ready for the coming tourist season. But the hope is to have all 12 in place by the end of September when the community hosts its annual Haunted Walk at the Heritage River Walk Trail.
- Rocco Frangione, Local Journalism Initiative, North Bay Nugget.